


An Unexpected Date

by sensiblekitty



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love, M/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-04-23 11:21:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 60,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4874770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sensiblekitty/pseuds/sensiblekitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isco, Dani and Jesé arranged a dinner in a trendy restaurant as an attempt for their quarrelling friends James and Toni to make amends. Isco is the first one to arrive. While he waits for everyone, he feels bad for a man (Alvaro) whose companion didn't come and pretends to be his 'date'. As the two talk, they realize many points in common, including mutual friends. What are the outcomes of this meeting?<br/>AU inspired by OTP Prompts.<br/>P.S: Yes, I'm editing the story. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unexpected Date

**Author's Note:**

> Link of the prompt: http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/124145878362/imagine-person-a-is-waiting-at-the-bar-of-a-very  
> I'm a bit nervous about this, because it's my first time writing more than a pairing in the same story, but what can I do if these characters basically added themselves in as couples? XD  
> Anyway, enough with rambling. As usual, I apologize for english mistakes.  
> Enjoy!

Isco tapped out the table in the bar while waiting for his friends' arrival. After months of waiting, they finally got a reservation to the trendy Madrileños Restaurant. He couldn’t wait to taste its food, which has been recommended by the biggest international chefs. The atmosphere was quite nice. Despite noticing that people were dressed in a fancy way, which matched the fancy foods served by the place, Isco thought it didn’t look like a formal environment. On the contrary, the clients talked loudly and laughed, there was a mix of pop/rock/electronic music on the background, not to mention the architecture, which gave a modern vibe. Everyone seemed to have a good time. Well, almost everyone, as in a table nearby, there was a young man who was on his own, staring at his phone, with a distressed expression. Isco noticed that he was already there when he arrived. He observed when the waiter approached him.

“Excuse me, sir. I’m sorry to say that, but it has been over an hour since you arrived. If you don’t make any order, you'll have to leave the table to the next client.” Isco overheard, as the man’s table was close to where he was sitting.

“Please, just five minutes more. I know my friend is late, but I’m sure he is arriving.” The man justified himself.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you have said it half an hour ago.” The waiter was irresolute. Well, he was just doing his job, Isco thought.

“But, but...” The man looked at his phone eagerly.

Isco wondered how long the other man has been waiting for his companion. He looked at his own watch and realized his friends Dani, Jesé, James and Toni were late as well. Had they fooled him? Would he also be alone tonight? Coming to think of it, he felt bad for the distressed man. He imagined himself in his shoes. That's why when Isco saw the other man standing up and preparing to leave, without thinking twice, he rushed to his table.

“Sorry, mate. I was late, but here I am. So, there is no need to leave the table.” Isco gave his best business smile.

“Welcome, sir. I was just about to tell your friend to schedule another reservation, but fortunately you made it.” The waiter displayed a small smile.

The man, who was taller than Isco, frowned. He was just about to say something, but Isco made him sit.

“So, would you like to take a look at the menu before making the order?” The waiter gave the two men the menu.

“Hmm, okay, thanks.” Both said at the same time, as they opened the menu and avoided making eye contact.

“When you decide on the order, just ring the bell that’s on your table.” The waiter said after heading to another table.

Isco breathed relieved and the other guy stared at him.

“So, could you explain me who you are...Or why did you come to my table all of a sudden?” The man didn’t look upset, just surprised.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even introduce me. I’m Francisco, but you can call me Isco. I noticed when the waiter was about to make you leave the table and I couldn’t let him do it. I mean, you must have waited months in the queue and it’d be a waste to miss your reservation.”

The taller man looked down miserably.

“I’m Alvaro. Yeah, I’ve made the appointment three months ago. My friend lives in Italy. He had some errands to run but I talked with him earlier and he said he’d come today. However, I don’t know what happened to him, he’s out of reach at the moment.” Alvaro commented, as he stared at his phone anxiously waiting for a response.

“Oh, that sucks. I’m sorry to hear about it. Maybe your friend’s flight got delayed and he’s in an area that does not have signal. ” Isco commented, comforting the man he has just met.

“Maybe. I just hope he’s safe.” Alvaro closed his eyes and covered his face.

A silence installed between them. Alvaro clearly wasn’t up to interactions. He continuously refreshed his phone screen, while Isco did the same and kept an eye at the entrance, waiting for his friends. That was when Alvaro’s phone buzzed.

_“Hi, Alvi. finally able 2 send u a msg. storm comin’, flight cancelled, rescheduled for tomorrow. i'm sorry. see u soon. Fe."_

Alvaro felt relieved. At least he knew about Fernando’s whereabouts. Luckily, everything was fine with him. Now, concerning himself, should he go home? Alvaro's phone buzzed again.

_P.S: don't go home just because I am not coming. Have fun in the dinner and tell me later, k?”_

“So, this message right now was from your friend?” Isco asked Alvaro, slight afraid of invading the other man’s space.

“Yes, it’s from him. It seems he’s just coming tomorrow.” Alvaro didn’t seem to mind about Isco’s question.

“Oh, that’s pretty bad.” Isco commented.

“I don’t think it’s that bad. There’s a storm there in Turin, at least he’s safe at home.” Alvaro reflected upon the Fernando's message.

“What about you? Won’t you be lonely tonight?” Isco asked, not taking into account his impersonation of a date as a companion.

“Nah, I’m already used to that. Besides, it’s not like Fernando and I are inseparables or anything like that, huh.” Alvaro shrugged.

‘So, his friend’s name is Fernando’, Isco took a mental note, in case they have no subject to talk about. He also noticed that, despite Alvaro telling him he was used to being alone, the look in his eyes expressed the contrary. The loneliness did seemed to affect him. Isco understood this feeling. He had experienced loneliness before, right when he moved to Madrid, and it sucked. Thankfully, he has made precious friends, whom are like family to him.

Another moment of silence installed between them.

“I was so nervous that I forgot to ask you which plate would you like to order. I mean, if you stay.” Alvaro noticed Isco’s gesture as the shorter boy kept looking at the door entrance. “I really don’t mind if you have to leave when your friends arrive.”

“They’re late. Maybe they aren’t coming.” Isco sounded upset.

“Don’t worry. If they are really your friends, they won't fool you. Just wait a bit more, they must be stuck in the traffic." Alvaro reassured Isco.

"Yeah, you are right." Isco chewed his lips. "You can join us, by the way." He invited Alvaro to know his friends.

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine on my own.” Alvaro wouldn't be comfortable in a table with a group of people he doesn't know, and probably they wouldn’t be fine either with an unknown man in their table.

“If you say so...” Isco agreed. In fact, Isco didn’t want to leave Alvaro alone. There was something in Alvaro that attracted him that he couldn't explain. He wanted to get to know him more.

“So, Alvaro, are you in Madrid by passage or do you live here?”

“I was born here and lived in the city until last year, when a job opportunity in Italy came. Now I’m living in Turin.” Alvaro answered. “What about you?”

“I am from Málaga, but last year I moved to here because of my job as well. I work as a journalist, by the way.”

“Really? Me too. I have graduated here in Madrid, but I wasn’t happy with my job.”

“Why? Which field you used to work for?”

“I used to work in a magazine about books. However, the sales decreased considerably, until the magazine got cancelled. I have spent a brief period working in a newspaper, then I transferred to a gossip magazine in the same publishing house. I wasn't happy with invading celebrities' lives, writing things about them, that's why, when a job opportunity came in Italy, I didn't hesitate to go. Nowadays, I'm satisfied with working in a sport magazine, which, along with books, are my favorite areas.”

“Don’t tell me you write athlete gossips.” Isco hated to read about rumors of any kind, especially if they were related to his favorite football teams.

“No way. My job there is to help with interviews and write reviews about matches." Alvaro cleared out the impression he always gave when he mentioned the word ‘gossip’.

"Sounds fun! Sports is also among my favorites, but I’m satisfied with my job field, because it’s related to my favorite hobby.”

“What is your job field?” Alvaro asked curiously.

“Game. I write for a game magazine. It’s cool because I get to play a lot and review as well." Isco expressed his excitement, his eyes shining brightly. Actually, Isco was a gamer who won several tournaments in both amateur and professional categories, but chose journalism as a career.

Alvaro admired Isco's passionate talk about his job. “It's so good to enjoy your job. I mean, there is the routine and effort and such, but when you do it with love, everything is worth it.” Alvaro reflected on his own life in the past two years and concluded that he made the best choice to move to Italy.

“It is.” Isco agreed. He was absorbed in his own thoughts. The gamer was happy with his job, but sometimes he questioned his publishing house manners, he just wouldn’t say it loud. The malagueño was so distracted that he didn’t hear his phone buzz.

“Hey, maybe you can recommend me some games.” Alvaro suggested.

"I can, but you have to recommend some books."

“Is it a challenge?" Alvaro looked at Isco defiantly.

"It can be if you want. Just think of a game genre and I can mention names." The game journalist felt fired up. "Don't understimate me, because I have a wide knowledge of games."

Alvaro was thoughtful. "I don’t know. Other than football games, like FIFA and PES, I can’t think of any genre at the moment. It has been so long since I have last played.” He sighed and stared at a blank space.

“The way you have just said gives a vibe of an old man, but you still look very young.” Isco questioned, while he glanced briefly through Alvaro’s face. "Have you tried New Star Soccer and Head Soccer? They are alternatives to those two you have mentioned, but no match in comparision."

"I haven't tried them. I'll do later then, thanks for the recommendation." Alvaro reflected upon Isco's comment and snorted. "You think I had a mindset of an old man? Maybe I do, but in reality I'm 23."

“Oh, you're welcome. But wow, you're 23, we are the same age as well. Such coincidence”, Isco smiled.

Alvaro smiled back. It was the first time he smiled that day. He was surprised to meet someone who had so much in common. Maybe this night wasn’t as bad as he thought it’d be.

"Now it's my turn to ask you to mention a book genre and I'll name titles." The sport reporter reminded of their 'brand new challenge'. "Don't underestimate me, because I have a wide knowledge of books." He quoted Isco.

Isco tried to think of a genre. Romance? Self-Help? Fiction! That was the one he loved the most. 

"Fiction. Something like...Oh man, I totally forgot the title now." Isco frowned; his mind suddenly went blank.

"Then, I'm the old man here..." Alvaro mocked his 'date'. 

"What? You caught me by surprise." Isco groaned. "I swear I'm going to remember."

* * *

James was waiting at a table on the other corner of the restaurant. Despite receiving a message from Isco earlier on telling that he was already in the restaurant and was waiting in the bar, the Colombian couldn't find him nor anyone else from the group. The crowded place, in addition, didn't make things easier for him, as it was difficult to locate people. Then, Toni arrived shortly after, to his dismay. As they weren't on good terms and avoided talking, tension surrounded the table they shared, until Toni took the initiative to break the silence.

“Isco must be here, because he was the first to arrive. He wouldn’t leave without telling us. Besides, he was the one who wanted to come the most.” Toni looked around. More people came and it was difficult to walk around.

“I think I should look for him table by table,”  James commented, still avoided making eye contact with Toni.

“But one of us must stay, otherwise we'll lose our spot.”

"I said I, not we." James hissed.

“I think we should wait for Dani and Jesé.” Toni suggested.

“And staying alone with you? No way!” James crossed his arms.

“I can't believe you said that. Are you still mad at me, James? After all this time?” Toni questioned with indignation. He was about to hold James' arms, when someone intervened.

“Hey guys, can you stop arguing?”

“Jesé! I'm so glad you came.” James hugged his friend.

Jesé calmed James down and patted on his head. He looked around searching for the rest of the group. “Where is Isco? Has Dani arrived yet?”

“Well, that’s the question. Isco must be somewhere in this restaurant, but he doesn’t answer my calls.” James said worried.

“And Dani hasn’t arrived yet, I guess.” Jesé wasn’t surprised. His boyfriend is late as usual.

“We should look for Isco.” James held Jesé’s arms.

“Hey, you are leaving me alone here?” Toni asked the two boys.

“Serves you well.” James shoved his tongue to Toni and didn’t wait for his reaction as he took Jesé’s hands and ran. “Come on, let’s find him.”

“You shouldn’t do that to Toni, James.” Jesé shook his head.

“I can’t stand him and you know my reasons.” James kept running.

* * *

“By the way, Alvaro, how was your process of adaptation in Turin?” Isco gave up their challenge and decided to make more questions. 

“It was a bit tough in the beginning because of language, but I met many co-workers who speak Spanish and helped me through.”

“Must be a nice environment of work.”

“Yes, although I must admit I miss Madrid, my family and friends here.” Alvaro said bitterly. “How about you? Have you gotten used to living in Madrid?”

“Yes, Madrid is so beautiful. A city that never sleeps. Guess I wouldn’t adapt to Málaga again if I had to come back.” Isco laughed a bit.

* * *

James and Jesé, after walking table by table, bumping into people and waiters, eventually spotted Isco. They realized he had company. Was that Dani? They couldn't tell. They made their way to the table.

“Yes, it’s so lively!” Alvaro grinned proud of his hometown. “Oh, speaking of it, I was about to ask…Which publishing house do you work for?”

“I work for The R…”

“There you are, Isco! We were already worried that you were mad at us and left without telling.” James, who walked faster than Jesé, surprised Isco.

Isco had opened his mouth to answer to Alvaro’s question, but got interrupted by the arrival of the Colombian friend.

“James." Isco put his hand on his chest and let out a breath. "You scared me!”

“What are you doing here? And who is this man with you?” James asked curiously.

“Alvaro?” Jesé approached the table a few seconds later and recognized Alvaro, turning his lips into a smile.

“Jesé?” Alvaro turned his face smiling back.

“It has been a while!” Jesé hugged Alvaro.

“It has! How long…over a year since we had last gotten all the gang together?” Alvaro commented cheerfully. “How is Dani?”

“Oh, he’s fine, the same as usual. Always the last one to arrive.” Jesé rolled his eyes and checked the time impatiently. “He should have come by now.” He dialed Dani’s number.  
Isco, who until now just observed the two old friends conversation, asked for an explanation.

“So, you guys know each other?” Isco was amused.

“That’s exactly my question, Isco.” Alvaro looked puzzled. “Do you work in the Real Editorial?”

“Yeah, I was just about to reply.”

“Look at this. We have another point in common, because the Real Editorial was my former employer. I used to work with Jesé and Dani in that book magazine.”

“What a coincidence, isn’t it, James?”

“What, who, when…is a coincidence? I’m sorry, but I don't understand this whole situation. Could you guys explain?” James was confused. He has been spacing out the whole day because he couldn't get Toni off his mind, as well as their turbulent relationship. When the two of them got alone, he almost lost his temper. And now he felt guilty for leaving Toni on his own. He just wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

“I was saying that it was a coincidence that Alvaro and I have so much in common.”

“Dani said he is arriving in a few minutes. He just parked his car nearby.” Jesé came back after calling Dani. He looked at the two boys who were chatting before they arrived and linked the dots.

“So, Isco and Alvaro, did you two already know each other?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain.” Isco felt awkward now that he remembered the way he came out of nowhere to Alvaro’s table.

“It’s not complicated. Basically, Isco saw me alone in this table and the manager asked me to leave if my date doesn’t arrive. He felt bad and pretended to be my date.” Alvaro resumed.

“Right on point.” Isco smiled shyly. He admired Alvaro for being so assertive.

“So, you two had never met before?”

“Nope.” Both Isco and Alvaro said at the same time.

“Hmmm... It's an interesting outcome.” Jesé smirked.

“What is interesting?” A bearded young man, slight shorter than Isco, had just arrived and overheard the conversation.

“Dani!”

“Finally you arrived, Dan.” Jesé gave a little kiss on Dani’s lips and guided him to the table.

“Everyone is already here?” Dani did his best to arrive early, but as usual, he got late.

“No, Toni is still in the other table…” Jesé said, starting at James, who avoided Jesé's glance.

“Then, why don’t we call him?”

“I’ll send him a message. After all, it’s my fault this confusion started.” Isco typed something and sent to Toni.

Dani, who was a bit confused with the situation, spotted a smiling Alvaro.

“There, there, if it’s not Alvarito!”

“Grande Dani!” Alvaro hugged his old friend.

Isco was impressed at the familiarity between Alvaro, Dani and Jesé. He then, had an idea. “Why don’t we do this: We join the tables and sit all together?” The game geek suggested. ‘This night sudden took a twist’, he thought.

Alvaro stood up and helped Isco move the tables and the chairs. Toni arrived shortly after, looking very pissed.

“So, am I the last one to arrive this time?” Toni asked and glared at James, who looked down.

“Technically, yes.” Isco commented. "But don't worry, Dani has just arrived."

“Now we can all sit and talk.” Jesé clapped his hands.

“Let’s introduce you guys." Dani pointed to the bickering couple and to Alvaro. "James, Toni, this is Alvaro. He used to work in the Real, on the celebs' section."

“Alvaro, these are James and Toni. Both of them work in the news section.”

“Nice to meet you.” They greeted one another.

“So, Alvi, what are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be in Italy?”

“Yes, I’m still living in Turin. I just took a few days off. My boss practically forced me to take a break from work. A friend of mine from Turin and I had made reservation for the restaurant, but his plane didn’t take off today due to a storm.”

“Why didn’t you tell us that you came back to Madrid?" Jesé asked. "We would have invited you to hang out!"

“I didn’t want to bother you. Besides, you know, I don’t have a good memory of last year, from the way I left the publishing house.”

“Oh, yes, I see your point.” Dani commented. “Since you left, things didn’t get any better.”

"The president seems to be getting more and more insane." Jesé added.

 “Whatever it is, I won’t be surprised.” Alvaro sighed.

“Well, did you know Iker, the editor who worked for the sports section?”

“The one who wrote those brilliant articles about La Roja?” Alvaro asked, to which Dani confirmed. “I met him a few times. He was nice with everyone. He even gave me some tips on writing." Alvaro paused, while he remembered reading some recent news about him. "I heard that he decided to try a new adventure at a magazine in Portugal.”

“Well, that’s what the Real Editora officially says.” Jesé shrugged. “But for us who are inside the staff, it’s a said fact that the president fired him.”

“Because of that article Iker wrote criticizing the way the press badmouth players?” Alvaro read that article and admired Iker for his courage to stand up for the football players.

“Yes, it happened shortly after its publication.”

“That’s sad.”

“Sergio, our editor, is very close to him. He told us that everything the big boss said about Iker is bullshit.” Isco added himself to the conversation.

"The president is annoying, but we can’t talk too bad about him. After all, he is still our boss.” Toni remarked.

“But we can’t sit still and see all the mistakes he makes.” James replied.

"By the way, have you already ordered?” Jesé interrupted the talk. The topic about the president made him uncomfortable, he wanted to talk about something nicer, lighter, cooler, not bad things. 

“No, not yet. We shall do this now.” Isco pressed the bell.

* * *

“Are you guys still working on the newspaper then? You two, Nacho, Varane…?” Alvaro asked Jesé and Dani.

“Nacho and I are working in the same magazine as him.” Dani pointed to Isco, who turned his attention to the talk after hearing his name.

“The game magazine?” Alvaro raised an eyebrow. Since when are Dani and Nacho specialized in games? He wondered.

“It doesn’t cover just games, but also technology and science.” Dani contested. “What, Isco, don’t be biased when you talk about the magazine.”

“Sorry, my bad.” Isco let out a constrained smile, his eyes meeting Alvaro.

Alvaro found Isco incredibily cute with that smile. He couldn’t help but admire the shorter man with a smile.

Jesé observed the exchanged looks between the two men amused. He was unsure if he should interrupt the moment, but answered Alvaro's question. “I’m still working in the newspaper, cultural section, and Varane transferred to the economy section.”

Alvaro broke the eye contact and frowned at Jesé's comment. “Varane in the economy section? Wasn’t he specialized in culture? Shouldn't he still be in your department?”

“Yes, he should. Don’t make this face, I don’t get either.” Jesé referred to Alvaro’s grimace. “That’s what I say: the big boss is going crazy.”

After that, Alvaro, Dani and Jesé unintentionally set a space just for the three of them. They talked about people, subjects, interests of their own knowledge, Isco knew nothing about, staying out of the conversation. In the end, the malagueño journalist sat between Toni and James, who, on a side note, weren't talking with each other. Isco felt bad for the two. Until the beginning of the year, James and Toni were on very good terms. He remembered they were always together, carefree and in love. However, misunderstandings between the two tore them apart. Nowadays, their relationship limited to being on the same work place and having friends in common. That was when the idea came from Jesé to gather the group to a reconciliation dinner, and Isco found the perfect opportunity in the "Madrileños", as the reservation date matched everyone's schedule.

“So, are you two still on bad terms with each other?” Isco directed his question to James and Toni.

“Bad terms? No, not at all. After all, we don’t have any acquaintance other than being coworkers.” James had a bitter tone in his voice.

“Nah stop with the sarcasm, James.” Toni protested against James’ comment. “Yes, Isco, your friend James can’t forgive me.”

“Because you didn’t tell me the truth, you weren’t honest with me.” James has been hurt for Toni’s behavior in their relationship.

“I said I was sorry multiple times already. But how many times will require for you to understand me?”

“You can keep trying and I’ll keep not forgiving you.”

“You haven’t even tried listening to my explanation.”

“And do I need to? You haven't defended me that day, you didn't stand by my side.”

“At least try listening to me.”

“You’ll lie, as much as you’ve been lying all this time.”

"I'm really sorry, I had my reasons at that time, you need to understand me.” Toni begged for James’ attention. He was aware of his mistakes, which is why he wanted to clear all the misunderstandings between them. He wanted to make something right at least once.

James covered his ears. "Sorry, I'm not hearing you."

"Stop being so childish and rigid!" Toni raised his voice.

“And you stop being a lying bastard!” James shouted.

“Okay, okay, stop you two!” Isco has been listening to them, unsure of what to do. He grew up being told not to mend himself in couples’ issues, so he preferred to stay quiet. However, the discussion between heated up, to the point that not only Dani, Jesé and Alvaro, who were laughing at some inside joke, stared at them, but also the neighbor tables. Therefore, in the end, Isco had to do something before things worsened.

“Toni and James." Jesé called their attention. "I know you have your own issues, but please, don’t make a scandal.”

“I’m sorry, guys.” James was ashamed of his actions. He ruined the night with his silly behavior. Maybe Toni was right. He was too rigid and this mindset only hurt those around him.

“I’m sorry as well. It was my fault for pushing James.” Toni sighed. He lost his control…again.

“No, I’m the one who has to apologize, because I dragged them to talk.” Isco looked down guilty. He just wanted to “break the ice” between them, but all he did was to mess more those two’s relationship.

“Don’t be sorry, Isco. You had a good intention.” James ruffled Isco’s hair.

“James is right, Isco.” Toni smiled at his friend. “Maybe it’s better if I go home now.”

“Already? But that’s so soon!” Dani commented.

“It was a tough day, and I’m just too tired.” Toni stood up. Even if it was Sunday, he spent the whole day working at home. “I’m really sorry for the embarrassing scene.” He waved to everyone. “See you guys tomorrow at work. And nice to meet you, Alvaro.”

“Same from me. Pleased to meet you.” Alvaro replied, not sure of what else to say.

“You won’t tell him to stay?” Jesé stared at James.

“Well, he said he was tired.” James said, showing a lack of interest in Toni's departure but hiding his guilty.

Jesé sighed. He gave up trying to convince James to listen to Toni. He reminded himself not to make another ‘reconciliation dinner' again.

As the table got quiet, the waiter brought their order.

“Toni didn’t even wait to try the food.” Isco pouted. The main purpose of the dinner was over, and they failed to get the two friends to make amends.

“We can bring him again next time.” Dani squeezed Isco's shoulder.

"That is, if someone is okay with his presence.” Jesé looked at James.

“I’m indifferent. You do whatever you want.” James shrugged.

Alvaro felt completely off the place. Other than speaking with Isco and reuniting with old friends, he had no idea of what was going on with the two young men who were arguing. He didn't want to meddle into their business, so instead he focused on sending messages to Fernando.

_"tks for not letting me go home. the night took an interesting upturn. i'll tell u when i arrive home."_

_"p.s: the food is great. u have to try it next time."_

“And you, Alvaro, are also invited for our next meeting.” Isco brought Alvaro back to the conversation.

“Yes, yes, Alvaro!" Dani agreed. "We hope you don’t refuse.”

"Thanks. If the schedule allows, I'll gladly accept." Alvaro grinned, touched by the friendly invitation.

“It won’t be like this one. I mean…” James wanted to explain himself and fix the impression he was sure he left.

“Don’t feel bad…James, right? If anything, I didn’t pay attention to your talk.” Alvaro reassured the man.

After they had their meals, they didn’t talk as much as in the beginning of the meeting. James left shortly after.

“It is getting late now.” Isco yawned.

“I agree.” Alvaro checked the time in this phone.

“Is it okay if we end the night now?” Jesé inquired. "After all, there is work tomorrow."

“I’m perfectly okay with that. This has been a weird day.” Alvaro rubbed his eyes.

"Don't remind me about having to wake up early tomorrow." Dani sighed.

"I'll remind you to wake up early, so you don't arrive late." Jesé hugged Dani.

The group asked for the bill and agreed to share the payment.

“Hey, Isco. We should stay in touch with each other. If you remember that book title, I can give you some recommendation.” Alvaro told himself that it's for helping purposes only, not because he wanted to meet his 'date' again.

“Sure, Alvaro. Here is my business card, by the way. It has my phone and my e-mail.” Isco gave his card to Alvaro.

“Thanks for the card. Here is mine.” Alvaro gave his business card to Isco. "I'll take that as a second round of our challenge then."

"Thanks, Alvaro. I promise this time we'll finish it!"

“Does this mean that you guys will have a real date?” Jesé came to their side, holding hands with Dani.

“No, Jesé, I just want some book recommendations.” Isco looked at Alvaro.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s just advice.” Dani mocked the two boys, noticing the continuous exchanging looks between them.

“It is advice. What else could it be?” Alvaro blushed.

"I didn't think of anything!" Dani sang. "Though you two would be cute together.”

“I agree, Dan." Jesé added. "We totally support you if one day you decide to be a thing.”

“Stop you two, we aren't even close to that.” Isco shook his head negatively.

"Yeah, stop pairing up everyone you know." Alvaro reproached the insinuation. "You two are so annoying sometimes." He referred to the bad habits Dani and Jesé had to see love everywhere. They 'ship', as they name this action, friends, coworkers, acquantainces, fictional characters, etc. Alvaro rolled his eyes every time they created a new "ship", although some pairings were funny, he might admit. 

"Okay, okay, we'll stay quiet." The couple rolled their eyes. 

The group of friends said goodbye to each other. When Isco got home, he felt tired. This night went completely different from what he had in mind. He felt bad for both James and Toni, but he would take care of it later. The one who made his night though was Alvaro. They had so much in common. He looked at Alvaro’s card and smiled. He couldn’t wait for their next meeting. 

* * *

Meanwhile, Alvaro, who just arrived to his parents' home, phoned Fernando, only to get a missing call. He looked at the time and concluded his friend went to bed.

_"u didn't answer my call so i'll phone u tomorrow (or should i wait for ur arrival?). i want to tell u everything about the dinner. more details later. good night, Fe. Alvi"_

He grinned as he remembered Isco and stared at his card. Their challenge is set and he envisioned their next encounter with bright eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated! :)  
> 


	2. After the reunion - Alvaro's house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set two days after the 'unexpected date' at the restaurant. Fernando arrives in Madrid and pays a visit to Alvaro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Here I am again, updating this fic. Since I have left some unanswered questions in the oneshot, I've decided to write a sequel (the story just kept going in my head). Initially, the plan was to write separately, but in the end, I thought it would make more sense to edit the existing work.
> 
> This chapter intended to show more of Alvaro's point of view, so it's just Alvaro, his mother and Fernando there, but everyone returns in the following chapters. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_“But boss, weeks have passed and the newspaper hasn’t published any of my articles.”_

_“I’m sorry, Morata, but the newspaper doesn’t have room for your work at the moment.” The editor-in-chief glared coldly at me, as if he didn’t wanted to be bothered._

_I felt what left of my confidence drop, but still insisted and tried to understand the newspaper’s decision. “Then, when? I work extra hard, read and practice, revise the texts more than once, making sure they are ’newspaper-like’, yet they are always rejected. Could you tell me what’s wrong with my work? How can I improve in order to get approved?”_

_“It’s your writing, Morata. It’s still not on point, not at the quality the newspaper requires. Sorry for my frankness, but if you’re not happy with our antics, then you have to move from here.”_

_I paused and reflected for a moment. I wanted to tell him my frustration, that I have done everything right, about the sleepless nights I have spent writing and rewriting. That no, I didn’t agree with their antics. However, I had to control myself. I couldn’t let the heat of moment take off my reason and get in an argument I’d regret later. I needed to be very careful with my words._

_“I’m sorry, boss.”, was all I could say._

_“Don’t be, Morata." _The boss took a post-it note._  "Actually, I have just heard of a job opportunity in a magazine, inside the publishing house. How about gaining some experience there?”_

* * *

“Alvaro!”

Alvaro opened his eyes, shortly after he heard his mother’s voice. He just woke up from another dream about his past. When would those dreams, or nightmares, in his opinion, stop occurring? He was sick of them. 

“Alvaro! Wake up!” Alvaro’s mother knocked on his room’s door. “There’s visit for you.”

“Who is it?” Alvaro shouted, his voice still hoarse from the sleep.

“Your friend from Italy!” Alvaro’s mother shouted back.

Alvaro opened his room’s door.

“Fernando?” Alvaro rubbed his eyes.

“Yes, Fernando. Llorente, his surname.” Alvaro’s mom replied. “Come on, Alvi, it’s already past 10am.”

“Oh fuck. I overslept.” The journalist sighed. “Okay, mom. Tell him I’m coming.”

“Don’t take long to get ready, it’s not nice making the visit wait.”

Alvaro groaned. He hated oversleeping. It made him feel that the extra hours spent on bed were a waste, that he could do something productive. He rushed to tidy his bedroom, take a fast shower and get dressed. Fifteen minutes, he counted on his clock. Neat, he smiled proud of himself to get ready in the usual time interval. He walked downstairs to meet a groggy Fernando sat on the sofa of the living room. 

“Morning, Fer!” Alvaro greeted Fernando. “I thought you were arriving later.”

“Morning, Alvi!” Fernando greeted back. “We didn’t have time to talk yesterday, right? My flight got rescheduled and I was in a rush with the plane arrangements and such. Sorry I didn’t attend your phone calls.”

“No problem. I imagined you were already asleep when I came back from the restaurant and that you’d be busy between taking the flight, arriving and unpacking, not to mention the jet lag.”

Fernando let out a long yawn, one of those that make tears fall from the eyes.

“Oh the jet lag. Don’t even talk about it.”

“I already see it in your face.” Alvaro noticed dark circles under Fernando’s eyes.

“Sorry for the yawn. Yesterday was such a stressful day with the storm and the changes in the flight, but fortunately everything went fine.”

“I saw the photos and videos of the storm. It’s a good news that nobody got hurt.”

“The storm wasn’t that strong, but the airport was very cautious and decided to close during it.” Fernando shrugged. “I don’t complain though, because I wouldn’t dare to be in airplane under a storm.”

“It’s just a pity you didn’t make it to restaurant.”

“Why? Was the night this interesting?” Fernando inquired Alvaro. “I may have not gotten your phone call, but I read your messages. You made me curious, that’s why I came here as soon as I could.”

“The night had interesting events, but nothing really happened, not in the way you probably imagine.” 

“Not even with that Isco guy?” 

“Isco…” Alvaro daydreamed. He smiled as he remembered the shorter boy who came to his table out of nowhere and saved his night from being a flop.

“Wow, I can’t believe this.” Fernando tried to contain a laugh. “You have a crush on him!”

“What? No. Not at all!” Alvaro shook his head. “I barely know him, there is no way it would happen.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right, it’s Alvaro-skeptical-on-love-Morata we’re talking about.” Fernando mocked. “It’d be a miracle if you truly fell in love with someone.” He thought for a while. “Coming to think of it, since we’ve met, I rarely saw you commited to relationships.”

“As if you were any different from me...except that you go the opposite way." Alvaro thought about how often Fernando went out on dates, had one night stands, getting into short time affairs, while he simply avoided relations to start with. "Anyway, I’m not interested in any kind of romantic relationship at the moment.” The Madrid boy signed. His previous love experiences always ended on heartbreaks, which made him lose his balance, disturbing his work performance. 

“Don’t you think it’s about time to give yourself a break, even if just a little? It’s okay to be focused on work, but you can’t live your life just for your job.”

“I want to succeed, and to prove to myself that I’m much more than a mere gossip magazine writer.” Alvaro has set his determination since the day he left Madri. 

“You know, I know, everyone knows that you are already much more than that, Alvaro. What happened in the past is in the past. You’re in another path now.” Fernando comforted his friend.   

“It’s just that the past keeps haunting me, reminding me of my mistakes.” Alvaro looked down, recalling his most recent dream. “But you know what? The pain from the past is nothing but a fuel to my motivation. I’ll just get better and better.”

Fernando smiled at Alvaro. He was proud of following his friend’s progress at work. Fernando, who was older than Alvaro, still remembered the first days of younger man at work. The newcomer was very polite with everyone, but too quiet and insecure to open himself up, many times talking with people with his head down. Thankfully, their editor, Gigi, was very kind and welcomed him warmly. In addition, all the people from their department were nice. They always helped one another, exchanging ideas for work, quality checking the texts and such. It was a friendly environment.

“That’s how we deal with this, Alvi!” Fernando patted on Alvaro’s back. “Now, let's go back to the main topic here. What were the 'many things that happened' in the restaurant? Is the restaurant that good as chefs say or just another overrated trendy place?" 

Alvaro gave his impression on the restaurant and agreed with the chefs' opinion regarding the food. Although the price was quite high, he motivated Fernando to try another reservation. Then, the younger journalist stroked his own hair, took a deep breath and told about all the unexpected events from that night.

“It was kinda crazy.” Alvaro stared at Fernando thoughtfully. “In one moment, I was by myself in my table. Then, Isco came and pretended to be you. Okay, not ‘you’, but the belated friend.”

Alvaro told everything about Isco, how they had things in common yet they were so different. How after some time, Isco’s friends came, two of them were Alvaro’s friends and former coworkers, and in the end, the game journalist and him exchanged contacts.

“There was also a couple from their group who was fighting, but I didn’t pay attention to the argument.”

Fernando, who listened attentive to Alvaro’s story, sounded disappointed at his behavior. He was the kind of person who likes to know all the details of the story and the people involved. Not that he would be a fan of gossiping, but he just loved people, relationships and stories.

“I don’t get how you can be so cold and uninterested to other people’s matters. If it were me, I’d have heard everything, given them advice and become their friends right away.”

“It’s not a matter of being cold and uninterested. It’s just about respecting their private space.” Alvaro had a motto that he would never interfere with other people's lives, unless they allowed him to do so or it involved risks of any kind. “But yeah, I can totally see you doing that, always willing to help people. I wish I could be like that, but I can't."

“Which makes me wonder why you used to work in that gossip magazine.” Fernando laughed. Realizing he went back to the touchy subject, the reporter went serious. “Sorry, I spoke about your past again.”

“Don’t worry about mentioning the past.” Alvaro assured. “I used to ask myself a lot too. I never understood my bosses’ decision, but whatever, I don’t care anymore.”

“But still, don’t you think fate is amazing, to reunite you with your friends, the people from your former employer?”

“Yup, fate is a bitch sometimes.” Alvaro reflected on the reunite with Dani and Jesé in the restaurant. “Speaking of friends, you have to meet them all. They are a bit crazy, but nice people and you guys have some points in common. We should hang out one of these days.”

“Sure, I can’t wait to meet them.” Fernando was excited to make new friends. “Of course you’re gonna invite Isco too, right? You told me you exchanged contacts.”

“We did, but I’m afraid of bothering him." Alvaro showed his insecurities. "What if he’s busy with his work? Besides, it’s not like he’s interested in getting in touch again.”

“You never know. Maybe he’s shy.” 

“From the impression I had last night, he’s not shy at all. If he were shy, he’d have never come to my table.”

“So, you think he’ll call you?”

“I have no idea. We had kinda challenged each other about our hobbies, but I guess it was all a joke, a thing from the moment.” Alvaro didn’t want to admit, but the idea of meeting with Isco again excited him.

“You won’t know if it’s a joke or something serious unless one of you makes the first move of contacting.” Fernando commented. “Maybe you could be the one to do so.”

“I'm sure he has already forgotten about it.” Alvaro remarked, giving his insight on Isco’s feelings. “Besides, I shouldn’t give it too much attention as soon I’ll have to return to Turin.”

Fernando rolled his eyes. “Don't be hasty, Alvi. You haven't even called him to know his opinion."

"The point is, we didn't finish the 'challenge' because he couldn't remember the title. Then, I told him that if he remembered, he could call me. Since he hasn't called, either he hasn't remembered or he is uninterested." The younger coworker concluded. 

“Maybe he's busy and didn't have time." The older one suggested.

"Okay, everything is possible, but still, I won't go after him. I'll look like a stalker!" Alvaro shook his head and paused. "Can we talk about another subject? We should go on a ride through Madri now that you're here."

“Good idea, I’m in!” Fernando nodded, before hearing Alvaro’s stomach growl. “But first, you should eat something.”

“Geez, I’m starving!”

They headed to the kitchen, only to find the table cleaned.

Alvaro's mother, who had her attention set on the oven, talked to her son, who looked around in search of the breakfast.

“Alvaro, it’s almost 11am.” Alvaro’s mother pointed to the clock that was placed on the wall. “It’s not long until noon. You should eat something light and wait for lunch. Soon it's gonna be ready.”

“Ugh, okay.” Alvaro grabbed an apple with a hopeless expression. “Let us help you out then.”

“No way, Alvaro.” His mother protested. “You two go back to the living room while I cook." She looked at Fernando. "By the way, Mr. Llorente, you are invited to have lunch with us today!” 

Fernando, who quietly observed mother and son interacting, grinned. “Thank you for the invitation, Mrs. Morata. And you can call me Fernando.”

“You’re welcome, Mr.-, Fernando!” She winked. “All Alvaro’s friends are very welcome in our home. Especially one who is so handsome.”

“Mom, please..." Alvaro covered his face with one of his hands. "You're embarrassing me."

"What? Can't I compliment people anymore?" 

"It's okay! I'm very happy for the compliment." Fernando assured the lady with a smile, a bit shy. 

"See? There's nothing wrong. Now, let me work on the lunch." She told the two men off, but remembered to say another thing to her son. "And Alvaro? You can use our car today, in case you want to go on a ride. After all, your father is still on a trip and I'm working all day at home. Just don't come back too late, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Mom." Alvaro hugged his mother. "I love you. I was just kidding before."

"I know, Alvi. I love you too! But now, go watch a television, chat, whatever, just let me finish cooking."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, kudos are very appreciated! :)  
> Comments are very, very welcome! Please, don't be shy, I don't bite. XD  
> So, what did you think of this chapter?


	3. After the reunion - Publishing house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set at the Real Editorial (fictional publishing house). We have the comeback of the characters from the first chapter and the appearance of new ones. A brief summary of the chapter:
> 
> -Isco is affected by a crush on a certain someone  
> -Sergio is a severe editor  
> -Toni and James are called up to join an international project  
> -Dani, Jesé and Nacho decide to be matchmakers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, the reading might seem confusing because the story, for now, focuses on two sections of the publishing house: the game magazine and the newspaper. Therefore, I'm organizing the character list here (which might be edited as the story progresses): 
> 
> The R-Up! Magazine team  
> Isco = game, Dani and Nacho = technology  
> Sergio = editor
> 
> The Real Diario newspaper team  
> Jesé=arts, culture; Toni, James, Luka = news; Varane = economy  
> Marcelo = editor of the news department (There are more editors, but I haven't decided on who they could be. :/)

It was a hectic day at the R-Up! Magazine. The magazine team worked incessantly on the upcoming international technology&game fair that would take part in Madrid. Isco sighed heavily in his chair. The Malaga journalist held Alvaro's card with a troubled expression in his face, flipping it, placing on the desk, holding again, then hiding in his case.

Dani, seeing the other man's repeated gesture, complained. “Why don’t you call him? Seeing you playing with that card over and over the past two days is so fucking annoying.”

Isco widened his eyes at the slight shorter reporter. “Calm down, Dani, you’re too stressed." He hesitated for a moment, but confessed his anxiety. "I don’t know if I should call him.”

“It’s Alvaro we’re talking about, aren’t we?” 

Isco nodded, embarrassed by being so obvious. “Yes, that old friend of yours.”

“Alvaro, Alvaro...That guy is too clumsy when it comes to love.” Dani reflected upon his old friend’s manner. "You should take the first move if you want to have something with him."

“Hey, who said that there is love involved?” Isco raged at Dani’s comment. “I’m just interested in our unfinished challenge.”

“Oh, come on, Isco. You don’t have to pretend that you don't have a crush on him.”

“Who has a crush on who?” A bearded young man with dark-chestnut hair asked curiously, after coming from the editor’s room and overhearing the conversation between the two co-workers. 

“Nacho, you came in a good time! I'm commenting that our friend Isco has a crush on another friend of us.” Dani smirked. 

“Really?! Who is the one?” 

“No one less than Alvarito.”

“Morata? Our bookworm man?” Nacho raised an eyebrow, showing his surprise. It has been so long since he heard of him. 

“Yep. Him.”

“Hmm, interesting...You would make a good couple, Isco.” An image of the two guys together formed in Nacho's mind. "How did you guys met, though? Isn't he working in Italy?"

“He is spending a few weeks here on vacation. We met in the restaurant a few days ago.” Dani replied. “Too bad you weren't there, then, you'd have seen what Jesé and I saw...A huge chemistry between them!"

"Damn it, I wish I have seen it." Nacho lamented. In fact, he wished to meet the other journalist again, as the two were once great friends...Almost brothers, he would say. He has been worried about Alvaro's lack of contact since the former coworker moved to Turin. In the beginning, messages and calls were frequent between the two friends. Alvaro used to talk about his struggles and achievements on his new job, and so did Nacho, telling about his work at the magazine. Nevertheless, as time passed, Alvaro got quieter and more evasive, alleging the work was consuming his time...Until he stopped contacting. 

“Why don’t you shut up, Dani?” The gamer groaned, bringing Nacho's attention back to the present. “Nacho, don’t listen to this freak. There is no tension, no chemistry whatsoever between Alvaro and I.”

Isco's tone made Dani startle. The shorter reporter saw the blush forming in the co-worker's face, which he found amusing. 

“Chill, Isco.” Dani turned to where his bag rested, opened it and took a mirror. “You may want to deny, but look at yourself.”

Isco stared at his own reflex bright red and looked away. “I-I must be sensitive to the heat, a-and this room is hot, t-that must be it."

“Aww, how cute, Isco, you’re shy!” Nacho patted on Isco's head. 

“Not you too. As if it weren’t enough Dani and Jesé have those weird habits of ‘shipping’, then you, Nacho, whom I thought to be a serious person, are also into their craziness?” Isco cried out indignant, going back to his side of the desk and turning on the screen of his laptop.

“I'm not into their craziness, but I do have the habit of 'shipping'...Sometimes." Nacho admitted. The technology reporter liked cheering for his favorite fictional characters, reading fanfictions once in a while. He didn't agree with Dani's and Jesé's obssession of shipping real people's pairing, but somehow Isco and Alvaro seemed so well together.  

“That’s how we talk!” Dani and Nacho high-fived each other.

“Your definition of love is a bit creepy sometimes.” Isco remembered he read, a while ago, a story Dani co-wrote with Jesé about Sergio, their boss, and Sergio’s best friend -former editor- Iker which got him speechless. “Anyway, don’t get your hopes high, I don’t give a shit about him.”

“Oh, okay, you don’t give a shit about him.” Dani looked closely at Isco’s laptop. “Then, what’s Alvaro’s Facebook profile doing in that screen?”

“What? I don’t…” The gamer closed his laptop. “Mere curiosity. So what? Can't I just take a look at people's profiles?”

“You don’t have to deny, Isco. I can help you get closer to him.”

“You can count on me too.” Nacho volunteered. "I know a lot of things about him."

“I appreciate your willingness to help, but really, there’s nothing between us.” Isco insisted, avoiding to get further to the subject. After all, he wasn't suited to nurture a genuine relationship. At least that was what all his previous partners said when they dumped him. That he spent too much time playing games, hanging out with his geek friends. Isco knew people approached him for his fame of being 'a talented gamer who won trophies and prizes', that in reality, nobody truly loved him. Not that he cared, because he has't been in love either. There was attraction, of course, but it was temporary. Because of that, Isco was sure his feelings for Alvaro were ephemeral, just like his previous experiences.

The Malaga boy was so focused on his own thoughts that he almost didn’t notice that Sergio came to the main room and called him.

“Hey, Isco, have you already tested the new version of the game X as I requested?”

“No, sir, I didn’t have time.” Isco justified, a bit confused. “I’m still working on the special site for the fair.”

“Hunf, okay, the fair is priority after all.” Sergio agreed. “Still, you have to test the game as soon as possible, so we can include the review in the next edition. Don’t forget to take screencaps! If you could do it today would be better.”

“Sure, sir! I’ll do it right away.” Isco took his laptop and went to the Game Room. “See you guys later.” He waved at Dani and Nacho.

“Nacho, go back to work.” The tall reporter assented at his boss’ order and went back to his desk. “Carvajal, have you already written your review for that new antivirus?”

“I started, sir, but haven’t finished yet.”

“Go back to work, then. Stop rambling around. That’s a work environment, you all must be focused and productive.”

“Sorry, sir.” Dani turned on his laptop.

“No 'sorry'. Just work and things are fine.” Sergio headed to his room. The editor sighed heavily as soon as he closed the door, feeling the pressure under his shoulders. He hated to be so strict with the reporters who were under his command, but he had to follow the orders of his superiors. He sat on the chair and started reading the articles for the next edition of the magazine. He also had to take care of the online ones and the fair arrangements, whose covering was in charge of his team. All at once. The editor took a portrait that was placed next to the desktop closer, in which he and Iker smiled brightly.

"Iker, Iker. I miss you so much. I miss our conversations, your advice and even your scolding. Even when we worked in different departments, we still found a way to meet. Now that you're far away, I am lost and hopeless here. You have no idea, man." Sergio talked to himself, his chin rested on the arms.

* * *

Isco, now at the game room, turned on the super-computer that was specially developed for games and purely for work purposes (sadly, Isco thought...he secretly wished to have one at home). Then, the journalist downloaded the game. Playing would help him get away from the bothering worries and distractions for the past days. Still, the thought of Alvaro made his heart flutter...

"Don't be stupid, Isco, let's work. Forget about this Alvaro." Isco reprimanded himself. "You barely know the guy yet you're this affected. Stop with the crush."

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the newspaper section from the Real Diario..._

 James and Toni were called for a talk. Without knowing the reason, the two headed silently to Marcelo's room, one of the editors of the Real Diario.

Toni was calm. So far, he did all he could to keep the environment amiable, so he had nothing to worry about. James, on the other hand, was freaking out inside. The Colombian knew that lately he hasn't been able to separate personal issues from the professional ones, having displayed a mischievous behavior towards Toni more than once. Had Marcelo noticed? Would he punish him? Or would he oblige them to make amends? Countless questions surrounded James' mind.

"Please, sit down." Marcelo asked. "I called you here because I have a proposal for you."

James frowned. Out of all the imaginary scenarios, that was the last he envisioned. "Proposal?"

"Actually, it comes from our editor-in-chief...I believe it's irrecusable." Marcelo added. "So, here it is: the newspaper is organizing teams to make a big special covering about the refugees. The project consists of sending the teams to the countries from Europe that received refugees, interviewing families, taking a glance of their routines, their adaptation process and such."

"Sounds interesting. And where do we enter in this story?" Toni asked, more or less predicting the outcome.

"You have been assigned to travel to Germany, Munich! Isn't it cool?"

"Yes, it's very cool!" Toni agreed, not hiding his excitement. It's the first time he returns home since he moved to Madri. The German will reunite with his family, his friends. Gosh, he misses them so much. His joy just toned down when he recalled that  _that person_  still lived in Munich and their meeting would be unavoidable...

"I agree that it's an interesting project." James, who so far listened silently, gave his insight. "Why have I also been called though, if I don't speak German and my English is quite bad?"

"Oh, that's the next topic I was going to talk about." Marcelo looked at the paper he held. "The new editor-in-chief requests you both to work together again, and by together, he means...Under the pseudonym 'KR'."

The smile in Toni's face disappeared, while James froze in his seat. The Colombian reporter felt his ex's look in his direction, but didn't look back. Marcelo tried to break the tension in the air and motivate them.

"I get it that you two no longer cowork, that you have unresolved issues. Honestly, I was about to call you two for a talk, specially you, James, because it's not healthy for our work environment, neither for your lives. As this project came, I think it's a good oportunity for a settlement."

"Depending on me, Marcelo, I'm in. I'm just not sure for Mr. Rodriguez..." Toni said, looking down. "You know, we..."

"May I think a bit about the subject?" James interrupted Toni. "I promise to give you an answer as soon as possible."

"Sure. James, but don't take long. I have to confirm it with the organizers, they are closing the list of the reporters tomorrow."

* * *

After some time, Isco finished playing and felt better. Now all he had to do was to take screencaps for the review and write it. He checked the time in the computer screen. Almost noon. He was starving. He picked his phone and noticed there were several messages. Isco rolled his eyes. 'James', he thought. Who else would send so many consecutive messages if not him?

_"Isco do u have free time 2day?"_

_"I'd like 2 talk"_

_"It wont take long"_

_"I need an advice"_

Isco typed as fast as he could.

 _"today i'm a bit busy here, but i'll try finding some spare time. M_ _aybe we could talk at lunch."_  He sent.

_"it's about toni"_

'As expected'. Isco thought and sighed. He wanted to help, but without getting into trouble. After all, he couldn't choose 'the right side', because neither of them were right or wrong, each had their biased views to defend. Isco, as a friend and neighbor, could do nothing more than praying for a resolution between them. Not to mention that his last attempt of helping failed. 

_"sorry, james, but i'm not the best person to give an advice, specially if it concerns toni. u know i'm also his friend. besides, i agree with every1's opinion u have to solve this tension."_

_"i know. i need 2 clear things out with him. i'm so childish."_

Isco read James' message with relieve. The self-awareness was the first step for the newspaper reporter's change behavior.

_"i still want to talk 2 u, so when u have time, pls call me"_

The relieve in the gamer's face was replaced with a worry. Something must have happened between those two to make James need so much to talk. He dialed his number.

"Hey, it doesn't have to be now." James answered the call.

"Has anything serious happened?" Isco asked about James' last message.

"You're going to get into trouble if your boss finds out you're talking on the phone."

"Don't worry, I'm on the game room. He won't come, besides I'm not talking loud. We can chat a bit." Isco assured. "You, on the other hand, must be free to send these messages."

"Marcelo allowed us to go to lunch earlier, so I'm in a café now."

"Lucky you, Sergio today is a beast in disguise. But tell me, what's up?" 

James explained the editor-in-chief's proposal and the doubt that bothered him.

"So, Isco, what would you do?"

"If I were in your situation? Of course I'd accept the proposal. It's my career after all, no personal issues would disturb me."

"What about the co-work? I don't think Toni and I are in good terms for a partnership."

"Hmm, that's a problem to consider. A partnership most likely wouldn't work in the current state of your relation. Unless, of course, you guys settle the issues and focus on the project."

The silence from the other side of the line reflected James' hesitation to continue talking. 

"I don't think I can do it, not after everything he has done." 

"Listen, I know Toni has been a jerk to you, both in personal and professional sides, but it's past about time to let go." Isco continued. "You're an amazing journalist and writer, I'm sure you can do it. Don't be defeated by the past. Think about your life, your loved ones. Your family must be proud of you coming so far. Besides, everyone is supporting you."

"You're such a good friend, Isco." Isco could hear James' trembling voice.

"I just want to see you happy again."

James didn't reply. Isco had the impression his friend was crying on the other side of the line. He decided to give the man on the other line time to calm down.

"James, I have to go now. We'll talk later." He added. "Hope I could help you at least a bit."

"Okay, Isco. You helped a lot, thank you." James hung up.

Isco opened the door to check if someone was around or listened to him. Luckily, as he thought, it was just him in that deserted area of the department. Now, he had to come back to what he was doing. The screencaps. And the notes for the review.

Another message came.

_"Lunch with Jesé? He's waiting for us with the ppl from the newspaper"_

Oh fuck. It was already break time. He had to finish the already started job, so that he could go back to working on the site.

_"Sorry, Dani, I'm still working in the game room. You can go ahead. Send my greetings to him and to everyone!"_

Isco sent the message, put the phone in silent mode and started taking screencaps. It wouldn't take long, maybe there would be some time for a snack, he hoped.

* * *

In a restaurant close to the publishing house, Jesé chatted with Luka, Toni and Varane. The four of them left earlier because their editors had an extraofficial reunion and allowed them an additional break time. 

"Do you think James will accept travelling with you, Toni?" Luka inquired. He worked as a photography reporter in the same department as Toni and James and has been following the recurring incidents between the former partners.

"I have no idea, Luka. After all the fights we had..."

"Don't lose hope, Kroos. Things are going to get better for you two." Varane comforted the German reporter.

"Sincerely, James would be stupid to refuse such an opportunity." Jesé gave his blunt opinion. "I'm sick of his attitude, avoiding to be in the same place as Toni, pretending not to listen."

After they finished the lunch, Luka, Toni and Varane decided to visit the mall and make use of the extra break time.

"I heard there are some special offers this week. We should take a look." Luka suggested. The photographer loved shopping and was constantly searching for sales.

"Are you coming with us, Jesé?"

"Thanks, but I'll wait for Dani and Nacho."

"See you in a little while then." The three waved, before leaving. 

Jesé had to wait just a few minutes until the two 'belated' men arrived. 

"Oh thank God! I thought you weren't coming. The newspaper boys all went to check some special offers in the mall. Maybe we should do so later." 

"Sorry for making you wait, Je, but Sergio is in such a bad mood today." Dani complained to Jesé. "He would never allow us to leave earlier."

"What's the news though? He's always in a bad mood, you say it every damn day." Jesé took a sip of juice. 

"Dani is right, Jesé. Today, Sergio looks like he woke up with the devil. He called for our attention just because we were chatting in the main room." Nacho was upset with their editor's attitude. 

"I told you guys, it's because he misses his Iker." Jesé said with shining eyes. The culture reporter saw Dani and Nacho staring at him disbelievingly. "Okay, just kidding, boys. Maybe he is just having a bad day, don't take it to heart."

"I just feel bad for Isco. He has been given a lot of work because of the upcoming fair and he is stuck at work now." Dani said, checking the message Isco sent to him. "It's so unusual of him to skip meals."

"Let's hope he doesn't turn into a workaholic, like...you know, Alvaro." Jesé looked down, recollecting the last moments of Alvaro in the newspaper before the journalist got transferred to the gossip magazine. 

"Alvaro's case is still a mystery to me. Either it was simply the big boss' picking on him or Alvaro's style really didn't suit. That said, I don't think Isco would follow his path. At least he has the big boss' approval." Dani reflected upon the meeting on the restaurant. "On the bright side, Alvaro seems to be fine now. At least, he looks healthier."

"To me, it was the boss' implicancy, but who knows? It's already in the past now." Nacho avoided thinking about what could have been, it felt less indignant to think that everything that happened was for his friend's best.

"Alvaro said his boss in the Italian newspaper almost obliged him to take a break from the work. We can presume he hasn't changed his habit that much then."

"Is that so?" Nacho was surprised, expecting good news coming from the former coworker. "Poor Alvarito, he can't find peace." 

"Maybe Isco could help him." Jesé smiled to Dani, already expecting his boyfriend's reproach for his 'shipper' side coming out so explicitly. "Don't tell me off, Dan, we both saw Alvaro's continuous looks to Isco."

Dani, who would mock Jesé for seeing too much into things more than he does, instead agreed and laughed.

"You know what's funny, Je? Isco has a crush on Alvaro. We just had a confirmation this morning." Dani stared at Nacho, who initially shook his head, but eventually smiled, joining their ship. 

"Whaaaat? Are you serious?" Jesé shouted out.

"Yup, but Isco is too oblivious." Dani had a hopeless expression in the face. "The boy claims to be uninterested, yet he keeps stalking his social network profiles."

"Then, when we teased him, he blushed." Nacho added. 

"If these aren't signals of a love interest, then, I don't know what else could be." Jesé concluded.

"Alvaro, on the other hand, doesn't get behind on the cluelessness. I bet if he has feelings for Isco, he might be in denial." Nacho knew very well his longtime friend. "What a funny couple they would make though. We should help them."

"We should, but not until we confirm Alvaro's feelings. What if the three of us are biased and he is not interested?" Dani was cautious. The idea of acting like a matchmaker in a fictional universe always excited him, but he was aware that in real life things didn't work the same way.

Jesé agreed with Dani's reservation. There was a possibility of Alvaro having no interest on Isco. They didn't want to force anything, even because those two were their friends. "Let's meet Alvaro, then. If he has a crush on Isco, we get into action. If he doesn't, then we forget about the subject for good."

"Deal." The trio joined their hands together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a sensation that this chapter sucked, but if you made it until the end, thanks for reading ~~and sorry for taking your time~~.  
>  Kudos and comments are welcome.  
> 


	4. Confront/Another meeting by chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we have: 
> 
> -More on the James and Toni tension  
> -Fernando giving an advice to Alvaro  
> -A Morisco moment *finally~*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter again (sorry), but I promise the next one will be shorter.

After returning from break, James went straight to Marcelo's room. The Colombian journalist reflected upon Isco's words and decided to accept the call-up. He gathered all his forces to tell his decision.

"We can do it, James." He took a deep breath and knocked on the editor's room door.

"Come in!" Marcelo replied and smiled when he saw James. "So, have you thought about the proposal?"

"Yes, I have. I took the break time to ponder a lot, and my answer is yes, I accept to go to Germany."

"What a wonderful news!" Marcelo celebrated. "I'm going to confirm with the board then."

"Thanks, Marcelo." James smiled. "For giving me time to think and for trusting my work."

"You're welcome, James. I acknowledge your effort and your talent. After all, a single shitty article shouldn't mine the efficiency of a whole work." Marcelo referred to the last "KR" collaboration article before the duo broke up. It was a special article about the beginning of the year. Apparently, the two splitted the work and wrote their parts individually, joining them in the end. The blame for the failure, however, was given mostly to James, as his part contained scandalous, obscene language, something a formal newspaper wouldn't publish, an act that almost costed his job in the publishing house.

"That shitty article wasn't my work. I would never write trash like that." James complained with indignation. "I swear, Marcelo, that I'll prove that my original article had been sabotaged."

"James, forget about that. Everyone makes mistakes, maybe you wrote it in a drunk moment and you can't remember? It has been so long already, what matters is what happens from here on. Think of the project as a chance for you and Toni to close that incident for good."

James wanted to protest after hearing Marcelo's implying. Little does his editor and everyone supposed was that Toni was the biggest culprit for the incident's outcome. If only he had proofs to demonstrate his accusations. If only he had a copy of the whole work, so he could investigate further...He could ask Toni, but the German man would certainly refuse, as he verbally accused him that day. The Colombian reporter sighed. At that rate, there was really nothing he could do, perhaps Marcelo was right and he should forget about it.

"Well, I'm going to return to work now. See you, Marcelo."

"See you, James!" Marcelo waved. 

* * *

Toni observed James leave Marcelo's room. On his way back to his seat, their eyes met, but James ignored him. A few steps later, however, he turned back and walked in Toni's direction, stopping in front of his desk.

"Don't think that the fact I have accepted the proposal means that everything is fine between us." James looked straight into Toni, intimidating him.

"Rest assured dude, because I didn't think about anything. In fact, I don't give a shit about you." Toni replied coldly. "I'm very fine with working by myself."

James frowned to Toni's remark and then Toni saw a glimpse of disappointment in his ex's face. "Fine. This way is better, but the boss won't be happy." James added, resuming his track and fastly going back to his seat.

"We can justify with him later!" The German reporter shouted, so the other man could hear.

Toni returned to his work with an upset expression on his face. He is usually a calm man, but lately, he has been losing his temper. Why did he say they were going to work individually? Why couldn't he be gentle? Fact was that he thought James was overreacting. Over six months have passed since everything had happened, there was no reason for holding a grudge. He had broken off his engagament with Thomas, his longtime boyfriend from Munich, so now he was no longer double-timing. But would James listen? No, the stubborn man avoided talking at all costs. In addition to that, he was still pissed at Toni for their last collaboration flop. A mistake Toni had nothing to do with, and whose fault lied solely on James.

"Looks like you are still on bad terms." Luka observed the tension between the former duo.

"Yup, my friend, I can't even see a possibility of us to even be friends again."

"Don't give up, Toni. Who knows in the project you guys have a chance to talk again?"

"Who knows?" Toni shrunk his shoulders. He didn't want to admit, but deep inside, he was aware he had a big load of guilty for their relationship turn out. The German reporter lied to both James and Thomas. Ok, not exactly lie, but he hid the truth. He kept the engagement even though he no longer loved Thomas, just to make their families happy, to keep a good image for their friends, to make Thomas happy. The worst part, however, was that not only he didn't take his relation with James seriously, but also treated the Colombian badly when Thomas came to visit him from Germany. When Toni realized he genuinely loved James, he lost his trust, his company, his love. Overall, he reflected that his attitude really made him a douchebag, a loser, unworthy of forgiveness. 

* * *

_Several hours later, in the R-Up! magazine..._

The following hours were like hell for Isco. He finished his task in the game room, only to find a trouble in the network system, which made Isco lose the data from the game fair site he was working on. Because of that, Isco couldn't leave his break, having to content himself with a package of snack from a vending machine, and spent the whole afternoon redoing his work and writing his review. On a bright side, he managed to get both things done on time. He felt proud of himself. On the other hand, he was starving, tired and a chaos in person. 

"Fuck yeah! I'm done!" Isco stood up and celebrated in the almost empty main room. Everyone has already gone home, except from a few trainees, who glared at him for being noisy. "Oops, sorry, guys." He contained his joy and decided to send the review to Sergio. 

Isco walked to Sergio's room and let out a long breath before knocking on his boss' door. He could hear Sergio's voice, which was loud enough for Isco to know the subject spoken. 

"Do you plan on coming to Madrid this weekend?" Sergio spoke in a very relaxed manner in Isco's opinion. The reporter hesitated, but knocked on the door. "Oh, we'll resume our talk later, I have to go back to work. See ya!" And hung up. "Come in!"

"Boss, I brought the review of the game X you requested." Isco gave a paper to Sergio.

"Great, I'll take a look at this and tomorrow I'll give you my feedback." Sergio put the paper on the pile which Isco presumed to be the team's texts. "What about your part in the special page for the tech&game fair?"

"We had some trouble in the network and because of that I had to redo my part, but I promise that until tomorrow it'll be finished." While talking, Isco's head became dizzy. 

"Good, keep up the work." Sergio noticed Isco's condition. "Are you okay?" 

"Yes, sir, I'm fine, just tired." 

"You worked very hard today, I appreciate your effort." Sergio acknowledged. "You can go now. Just rest for today and tomorrow you resume your work on the site."

Isco felt surprised by the praise of his boss. It has been a while since he last saw him in a good mood. Was it the phone call from just now? 

"Thank you, sir. See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow." Sergio waved. He felt delighted for Isco and his hard work. Not only his, but also for all the magazine team's work. The presence of the Real Editorial in the fair would be a success if depended on Sergio. That's his objective. Now that Iker said he's coming, it became even more important for the editor to make a good impression for him. 

Isco left the building and took his usual route to home. He was awfully tired. What a stressful day! All he wanted in that moment was to take a good shower, eat something and sleep. The last days have been agitated for the young reporter. The preparation for the fair to add to his usual work, the fights between Toni and James, who besides being his friends, were also his neighbors. He hoped so much they could be on good terms again. But above all that, he wanted so much to call Alvaro, but he didn't have courage. What if he is already back to Italy? What if he forgot about him? In the end, it was really Isco who would have to take the first step, after all it was him who forgot the book genre for their 'challenge'. If he could remember at least the title name...His mind has been a mess in the past weeks.

As Isco walked, his steps got heavier and heavier. His vision blurried out and everything looped. The dizzy in his head aggravated.

* * *

After walking around Madri, Alvaro gave a ride to Fernando. The two co-workers were exhausted from visiting several places.

"Madri is truly beautiful, but I'll call it a day today. You see, Alvaro, I'm already aging, my legs are stretching."

"There are still more places to visit, Fer, what you saw today is not even half of what this city has." Alvaro commented on his friend's tiredness. 

"Don't forget that I'm on work duty here." Fernando reminded. "But let's see if there's some free time before I return on Sunday."

"Lucky you that you're returning on Sunday. I still have another week of holiday." Alvaro huffed. "You know, I wish I had something productive to do here."

"Gigi told you to get a rest. Therefore, follow his order." Fernando saw Alvaro rolling his eyes. "Ok, then, you want some activities. Why don't you make a journal then? You can write about anything you want, anytime, so, no deadline pressure."

"I haven't thought about that. Sounds interesting."

"Tell me later if you decide to write a journal, then. Now I have to go." Fernando thought about his aunt, who slept early, and didn't want to disturb her. "Oh, before I forget, have you seen the folder in the shopping? There will be an international technology fair on the weekend."

"I haven't seen." Alvaro lied. Of course he saw that, but didn't want to hear Fernando's teasing. "Do you want to go?"

"Why not?" Fernando smirked. "We could meet some important people there..."

"Enough, Fer." Alvaro didn't let Fernando finish.

"You're so fool, Alvi. While you try to ignore your feelings, you turn your back for something that could be good for you, and you lose a chance of being happy." Fernando said. "Have a good night." He left the car and went inside the house.

Alvaro didn't get Fernando's words. He knew he had a crush on Isco, but he was sure someday this feeling would fade away. He'd just let time pass, avoid thinking about him. He had to forget about him, soon he'd return to work. A romance in that moment was the last thing he wanted.

On his way home, he saw the Real Editorial building. The sport journalist was waiting on the road for the traffic light turn to green. Memories from his time in the publishing house came to his mind. Good and bad ones, happiness and pain mixed up. He shook his head. Why couldn't he move on? That was when he saw a man next to the building staggering, until he fell to the ground. Alvaro widened his eyes. The cars behind him buzzed and he noticed the light was already green. Alvaro accelerated his engine and started running. He should ignore the man, but he couldn't. Something similar happened to him before and there were nice people who helped him. Why couldn't he be the one helping this time? He decided to return and see if the man had been rescued. If not, maybe he should call an ambulance.

The former Real Editorial employee parked the car nearby and noticed the man was still laid on the ground. As he approached, he recognized the man's feature. It was Isco. What happened to him?

"Isco? Isco!" Alvaro tried to wake the man, touching his face.

The RE reporter, who had lost his consciousness a few minutes before, opened his eyes confused. He looked around and noticed to be still a few meters away from the publishing house building. Then, he realized he was in someone else's arms. Not a random someone though. Alvaro's arms. 

"Alvaro? What are you doing here?"

"I was going home, when I saw you falling." Alvaro explained. "I-I mean, I didn't know it was you, until I parked the car and came in your direction."

Isco smiled amused at the stuttering Alvaro. He tried to stand up, but lost his balance, being held by the other man. 

"You don't look well." Alvaro studied Isco's palid feature, touched his face and noticed it was cold. "We should go to the hospital."

"I'm just tired and having a fucking headache." Isco closed his eyes and massaged his temper. "All I need is to go home, I think I can walk now."

"No way! You won't walk in this condition. Let me give you a ride."

"I live close to here, five minutes by feet, in the common building for the journalists."

"I know where it is, I used to go there sometimes." Alvaro remembered the nights he gave a ride to drunk co-workers. "Come here, I'll help you walk to the car." He opened his arms and offered his shoulders as a support. 

Isco didn't protest and held onto the taller man. Embraced, the two men made their way to the place Alvaro's car was parked.

"Are you sure you don't need medical assistance?" Alvaro asked, starting the car engine.

"I'm fine, I just need to rest. There's no need for a doctor." Isco insisted.

"If you get sick, I'll feel guilty." 

"I've felt it before, my doctor just told me to take care of my health better and manage stress."

Alvaro had a feeling of déjà vu. He heard that advice several times in the past years. "Working a lot?"

"Yup. Not only that, but also worrying too much."

"I know how it is. Working sometimes requires us to ignore our body's signals." Alvaro said. "However, when we start doing that frequently, it gets to a point that we can't take anymore." Alvaro recollected the time he collapsed on his desk in Turin, and how worried he made Gigi feel.

"It can't be helped." The shorter man shrugged. 

"You have to take care of your health." Alvaro felt surprised by what he said. He just repeated the advice everyone gave him regarding the excess of work.

"Yeah, maybe I've been working too much lately indeed."

They barely had time to talk, because shortly after they arrived in the building.

"We're here." Alvaro smiled. "Let me help you."

"It won't be necessary, I feel better now." Isco gently refused. "Thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome then."

Isco hesitated, but added. "I'm sorry, Alvaro. For not calling you."

"It's okay, you didn't have time."

"There's the lack of time, but also..." The gamer swallowed, looking down to his shoes. "I intended to call you, I just... didn't gather enough courage. Maybe...I'm a bit shy." 

"Really?" Alvaro grinned. "To me, you weren't shy that day."

"I didn't know either that I was shy...until I met you." Isco blushed. 

Alvaro didn't expect to hear something like that from the other boy, nor that it’d make his heart skip a beat. He tried his best to calm down. 

"I'm shy too, so you don't have to worry about it." Alvaro squeezed Isco's shoulders. "You know, I thought you didn't want to call me again."

"And I thought you had forgotten about me and that you went back to Italy." Isco looked right through him. 

They laughed at their negative mindset about each other.

"I'll just return the other weekend, so I'll be free during this time." The book lover reporter assured.

A glam of relieve was visible in Isco’s eyes.

"Are you free this weekend? I just thought that...If you would like to take a look at the latest game releases...There'll be an international fair. If you'd like to come..." The gamer did his best to contain the ongoing eagerness in his chest. "There will be technology releases too."

"I'd love to come." Alvaro smiled.

"If you don't mind, I'll be working there, but I'll find a way of getting some spare time, so we can walk around the venue." Isco winked.

"I don't mind at all. It'll be a pleasure to have your company." Alvaro couldn't believe his own words. He felt so relaxed when he talked to Isco that even forgot his relationship issues. 

"We'll keep in touch, then." Isco suggested. "Now that we know we are both shy, why don't we try messaging?" After all, he had Alvaro's number on his contact list.

"I agree. Why haven't we done it before?" He remembered the message app that automatically imported the contact list and that he didn't have to add Isco again.

"So, it's settled then." Isco loosened the seat belt.

"Are you really fine? Won't it be better if I guide you?"

"It's okay, I'm really fine." Isco reached out waiting for a handshake. "See you, Alvaro." 

"See you, Isco." Alvaro shook his hands with Isco, his gaze meeting the other's in a long stare. That was when Isco took the advance and hugged Alvaro.

"Thank you for saving me." The gamer reporter whispered in the other man's ears.

Alvaro felt his body fluster at Isco's whisper and touch. "Take care, please." He said, while he hugged the shorter man back, placing a peck on his neck.

To Isco, Alvaro's hug was comforting in a way he never experienced before. The peck, on the other hand, gave him goosebumps. It wasn't supposed to be a big deal, that was something innocent, that friends do all the time, yet he couldn't help having those sensations. When they broke the embrace, he gave an awkward smile to Alvaro, leaving the car shortly after.

As soon as Isco entered the building, Alvaro started the engine and headed back home. The reporter blushed hard from remembering the moment they shared just then.

* * *

Isco threw himself on the sofá. He was exhausted and could pretty much sleep there at that moment, but also couldn't stop grinning. His body still felt Alvaro's touch. Damn it, what was going on with him? This crush was stronger than he ever expected. He felt stupid for being so vulnerable, so like 'a teenager being in love for the first time'. He wondered what it would be like if they got further... How would he feel? If they kissed, or...

"Cut it out, Isco, you pervert." He told himself, as his mind imagined 'nsfw' things.

'Take care, please' were Alvaro's words to him. The other man was right. The gamer had to care more about his life, about his meals, his sleeptime. He promised himself that from that day on, he would no longer skip meals, stay overnight, or let the stress drown him out. He would be a new Isco, healthier and happier. The first step was taking a good bath, eat that instant noodle and go to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so self-conscious about this story...Not sure if this chapter turned out good.  
> Comments, please (or if you're shy, leave a kudo)? ._.


	5. The first step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief summary of the chapter:
> 
> -Alvaro decides to visit some places from his childhood/adolescence  
> -Toni asks Jesé for advice, after he catches him reading fanfic  
> -James agrees to talk with Toni  
> -Isco and Alvaro chat through messages  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I promised a shorter chapter, but I ended up writing one that is as long as the others lol. Sorry, I got carried away.
> 
> -Since I probably won't update for the rest of the week (unless my inspiration comes up with some crazy story), let me say it here: Happy Holidays to everyone! Thanks for reading my fics, for the kudos and for the comments. I met so many nice people here on AO3, you're all amazing! May the new year be amazing, with lots of achievements and love and all the good things! And may the inspiration bring/keep bringing good stories!!!

_"James, sorry for not calling yesterday. I worked so much that when I came home all I wanted was to sleep. Let's talk today?"_  Isco sent his message to the Colombian reporter. It was true. He took all his forces to commit to the 'self-care promise', but fell into a heavy sleep, almost losing his time for work. He was worried about James, with the way the friend talked on the phone, emotionally unstable. He knew he couldn't do much, but the least he was able to do was to be there for his friends and support them. 

On the other hand, despite his worrying, Isco felt boosted up. Following Alvaro's advice really worked. The boy from Málaga reminded himself to thank him later. After two hours of work, he almost finished the special site for the fair. Then, he hoped Sergio would give him some well deserved spare time. 

"You are in a great mood today." Dani noticed Isco's behavior and a glam in his eyes. "Has anything good happened from yesterday to today that I don't know?" 

Isco cleared his throat and tried to hide his excitement. "I wrote the review yesterday and managed to redo the lost data from the site, so today I have less work to do. Or so I hope." 

"Just it?" Dani expressed his disappointment. 

"Just it?! You have no idea how tiresome it was!"

"Give him a rest, Dani." Nacho reproached Dani's comment. "Isco worked extra time yesterday, let's praise his effort, right?"

"Sorry, Isco. You did well yesterday!" Truth was that Dani was frustrated for not meeting Alvaro when he, Jesé and Nacho visited his parents’ home the day before. This morning, a thought came into his mind when he saw Isco cheerful. What if they met around the city and the gamer, for an unknown reason, hid from them? Well, that would be too much of a coincidence, his imagination was going way too far. No, no. He was definitely seeing too much into things.

"Thanks, guys, but let's focus on the work now. The fair is coming and we have a lot of work to do." Isco said in a tone that reminded of his boss’ manners.

Sergio, who walked around the main room and checked the work of his subordinates, overheard the trio's talk and joined the conversation.

"Isco is right. I want you all giving your best for the fair. After all, we are representing the publishing house there, and the Real Editorial is a sponsor." Sergio pointed to them and resumed his walk.

"Yes, sir. You can count on us!" Nacho shouted out cheerfully.

"Shut up, Nacho!" A co-worker on the other corner scolded, and others fellows agreed that Nacho was being too noisy in that morning, making the reporter groan to the bad mood surrounding the room.

Isco's phone buzzed. A reply from James just came.

_"No probs, Isco. Let's go back home together? We can talk on the way."_

_"Sure, see ya"_ Isco typed.

Another message came, but from another sender.

_"Morning. Feeling better today?"_

Isco couldn't contain his joy. Alvaro's message came shortly after he thought about him. Were their minds connected?

_"Morning. Yup, thanks for worrying."_

_"U'r welcome. Have a nice day and take care <3"_

Isco smiled brightly while he sent a message full of emojis to Alvaro. His day became even better now.

"Alright, let's be productive!" The gamer raised his fist, fixed his posture and focused on his laptop screen.

\---

Alvaro had a book beside him when he read Isco's message and laughed hard. He barely knew the other man, but he was sure those emojis were very "Isco-like". He replied with another message filled with emoji and ended with with that 'kissing-face-with-closed-eyes emoji'. 

"It's so good to see you happy." Alvaro's mother came to the living room and ruffled her son's hair. “Talking with your friends?”

"He’s a new friend I've made the other day. He works at the Real Editorial and we have friends in common. His name is Isco, by the way."

"So, he works with the boys?"

"Yeah, kinda. Dani and Nacho are his co-workers, it seems."

Apparently, Dani, Jesé and Nacho were looking for him the day before and wanted to talk. Or so that was what he heard from his mother right after he arrived home, but he was too distracted that he didn’t pay attention to the details, as his mind was filled with thoughts about the previous night, with Isco on his arms, the embrace they shared, his scent. Nonetheless, he made a mental note to call them later. 

"Nice. Bring them all any of these days you stay here. It has been so long since the last time you’ve reunited. I still remember the days you were little kids running around the house.”

"Good times, Mom, good times." Alvaro felt nostalgic. "But I'll contact them. Who knows, maybe we can arrange a 'pajama night' like the old times?"

"As long as you don't break anything...Haha, just kidding, I know you’re all full grown-ups.” She hugged her son. “I have to go to the office now, and I might return just later in the night. Will you be alright?"

"Don't worry, Mom. I can take care of myself."

"See you later, then. If you need anything, you can call me, okay?"

"I know, Mom, thanks. See you and have a nice day at work!" Alvaro hugged her back.

Alvaro recalled the day he came back home. A few days before, he called his family telling them about his sudden return, which was a sign that something wrong happened in his job, and his mother took a few days off from her work to take care of him. In Turin, he couldn't let go of his habit of overworking, until one day he collapsed on the publishing house and had been sent to the hospital. That was when Gigi ordered Alvaro to take a break. Since he came to Turin, he didn't take a single day off. Work, work, work. He became pretty distant from his old friends and his family. All he had in mind was to get the best articles, aiming to be promoted and getting the acknowledgment he never got in Madrid. In fact, he did have achievements, he improved his writing skills, but still hasn't gotten the promotion he aimed for: to write about Serie A league, the top one in Italy, the one with international recognition. Now that he thinks about that, everything was all pointless. In the middle of chasing that objective, he lost himself and became a cold-hearted person, a writing machine. Gigi was right. That was time for Alvaro to find himself again if he wanted to succeed in life for good.

The reporter remembered one of the last talks he had with Nacho, his closest longtime friend from their group. They talked about dreams and reality, Nacho still trying to convince him to stay. 

_"Alvi, don't give up. Those bosses are ridiculous. It's not fair that they stay with those stupid 'antics' and let talents like yours go. Come on, you've always said that it was your dream to work here. Our childhood dream." Nacho tried to convince his best friend. "Remember those days, when we played real-life role playing? We used to dress like those people from television, simulate interviews while alternating the role of reporter and guest. It was so fun back then."_

_"I do remember. How sweet were those days, when growing up seemed to be fun and cool. But we are adults now, and reality isn't that sweet. Did we achieve our dreams? Are we happy? You might be, you're where you envisioned to be. I, on the other hand, wonder if I'm not suited for journalism..."_

Alvaro let out a long breath, recalling those memories. When did he become so pessimist about life? When did he stop enjoying his work? Maybe, if he 'revisited' his old self, would he understand? Then, Fernando’s suggestion of starting a journal wouldn’t be bad, it would help finding himself again. The journalist let out a deep breath, took a blank notebook, a case, his phone and threw everything in his bag. He would begin a journey that day, with no expectation whatsoever, but he felt it would be worth it. When he was about to leave, he remembered his mother went out with the car. Nevertheless, he didn’t change his mind and decided to go walking.

\---

_Meanwhile, in the newspaper section…_

Jesé stared bored at the pile of papers he had to finish. He had tons of tasks to finish, but couldn’t find inspiration to write. He missed the times when Dani and their friends were still working in the same department as him. They would help one another when one was stuck at writing. Not that his coworkers weren’t nice, just that he felt isolated there. Why did they have to be apart? Was it because they chatted too much? Or perhaps it was because they used to laugh out loud sometimes? He couldn't understand what led to him being the only one from the former team to remain in the section.

In order to find some inspiration, he nonchalantly opened a link for a fanfic he co-wrote with Dani a while, not realizing Toni’s approach.

“Reading porn fics at work again?” Toni came to his side with a bright smile.

Jesé almost jumped from his seat. “Shit! You scared me, Toni.”

“I waved at you from the other side of the room, but you didn’t see me, so I had to come here.”

“Nevermind.” Jesé closed the tab. “What brings you here? I bet it wasn’t to spy on me.”

“Nope. I…wanted to get some advice from you.”

“If it’s help about work, then forget…I’m very busy now…” The culture reporter, embarrassed, tried to hide his habit by taking a random paper in his hands and making an expression of a focused person, but instead turning it into a frown. 

“I see you are veeeery busy with reading fanfics. What type is this time? Football, movie...?” Toni mocked the reporter. “Don’t worry, it’s not about work. It’s about James.”

“Answering to your question, none of this, because I didn't start reading." Jesé sighed. “Now, on to James...Listen, Toni, we did all we could to get you two to be on good terms. It depends on him to take the first step.”

“That’s not it, Jesé. There’s…something…I haven’t told you guys about.”

Jesé stared at Toni skeptically. “Is there more to the story than the fiancé bullshit?”

“Yes, there is. During the time Thomas came, I…kind of screwed up our work, this is why James is so mad at me.”  Toni hesitated, turning his head down, admitting something he tried so hard to deny to himself and to everyone.

“What? And you tell me just now?”

“I…still don’t know how to put into words…I didn’t directly screw up, but his file was saved in my computer, so…I’m to blame in a way or another. But I didn’t do anything with its content! I can’t understand what happened that day.”

“So, you lied to us? You said it was James’ fault.”

“I didn’t lie. At that time, I really thought it was his fault, but after reading the text repeatedly, I concluded it couldn't be his style of writing, even if he were in his worst senses. Someone has invaded my laptop and sabotaged the file, but it wasn’t me, I swear. How would something like that happen, though? If I was the only one who has the password?”

Jesé thought for a moment. The answer would be too obvious, too easy to be true, but the first person who came to his mind was no other than...

“Your fiancé was around, wasn’t he?”

“Thomas didn’t have my password.” Toni refuted Jesé's suggestion almost indignant. Toni was sure Thomas wouldn't do that, they knew each other for so long and the other man wasn't the type to break the privacy, even if he was jealous.

“But he could have spied on you in a moment of distraction.” Jesé reflected, as it seemed that the fiancé guy stayed on Toni's apartment during his time in Madrid.

“When he was here, I never once worked close to him. We spent most of our time outside, hanging out and well, doing some stuffs like, you know...” Toni described awkwardly the routine he had with his former fiancé.

“Please, spare me from the nasty details of your relationship…” Jesé interrupted the german journalist. “So, the concrete fact is that your collab has been sabotaged, but the culprit is unknown.”

“Exactly, but I’m sure James thinks I did that.”

“I wouldn’t blame him if he did…” Jesé opined. “Anyway, you have to tell him that.”

“Yes, but how? The man ignores me.” Toni searched for James’ desk in the room, and to his surprise, he spotted the Colombian looking at where he was. When their eyes met, James shortly after returned his focus on the work. “He was looking at us right now.”

“Really?” Jesé looked at James’ desk. “Well, if he did, then it means he is not that much pissed anymore. Maybe he wants to approach you again.”

“Help me, Jesé, tell him to talk to me.” The german begged.

“Sorry, but I can’t do this. I can’t force him to talk to you. In a way or another, you are the responsible one, so you have to fix it alone, Toni.”

“You’re right, Jesé. I’ll be very careful with my approach this time, and if he accepts to talk, I’ll confess everything.”

“Good. That’s the first step. I’m with you to get things settled. Keep me informed, okay?”

“’Kay. Now I’ll return to my desk.”

“And I, to my duties.” Jesé reopened the link to the fic, hoping to find some inspiration for his work and messaging Dani. It was an original story they co-wrote, with original characters. That was a work the couple was very proud of, a piece of art, in his opinion. 

* * *

While James worked on an article, he saw Toni waving to Jesé, whose desk was on the other side of the room. He tried to ignore him, but couldn’t stop following the german journalist with his eyes, observing when the two of them whispered. He was curious to know the subject of their talk, but he told himself it was none of his business, as Toni was nothing more than a co-worker. When he got caught by Toni’s gaze in his direction, he concluded that they were talking about him and decided to return to his work. To James surprise, though, shortly after his former boyfriend came back, he received a message from him.

_“we need to talk pls don’t ignore me, it’s related to that article...our last article.”_

James read the sentence with a mix of dismay and relieve. 'So, Toni will finally confess that he sabotaged that work', he thought.

_“’kay. I agree we should talk. Anytime and anywhere u want.”_

A few desks away, Toni replied to James’ message and looked at his table, noticing that the other man had his focus on his work.

_“after work 2day?”_

_“After work I’m going home with Isco.”_

_“Even better. I’ll come with you guys, then we’ll decide where we can talk. With Isco around, it’s less risky of me to get hit by you.”_

_“What? I’m not such a monster.”_

Toni glanced through James’ desk and saw a pout forming in his mouth. He always found the Colombian’s facial expressions cute, but the pout was priceless.

_“When u get mad, u are.”_

_“I never hit u”_

_“i mean that when u get mad, u become a monster. Cute but still a monster.”_

Toni expected to receive a burning glare coming from James’ desk, but instead, he noticed an awkward blush forming in the other reporter’s face.

_“cut it out, Kroos. Your pick-up lines wont work on me.”_

Kroos. That was the way they used to call each other when they fought…by their surnames. 

_“sorry.”_

_“I’ll tell Isco u’re coming along.”_

_“tks”_

It’d be a tough talk, but Toni thought it should no longer be postponed. This time, he was going to do the right thing, at least in their professional relationship. The worst that could happen is James not forgiving him, and Toni would understand.

* * *

The first place Alvaro decided to go was the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. He still remembered the times he used to attend Real Madrid matches with his family and friends, their eagerness in every match, suffering for a lost goal, a defeat, but also celebrating for every goal scored, for every victory achieved. For the times they cried when the club conquered La Liga titles and Champions League. Looking around the big building, he confirmed that those feelings haven't changed even after growing up. He would be a madridista for life and bleed white. The reporter, then, took photos with his phone from his seat spot. That would be the first material for his journal. Leaving the building, he went to a café, placed his notebook on the table and started writing. Unexpectedly, the words came easily and it wasn't long until he finished a short essay.

After doing so for almost an hour, Alvaro decided to go to the next destination: his old school building, where he studied until from elementary until high school graduation. It was a huge place, and for years, his second home. He should call his friends to come with him, but...They would most likely mock him for being a nostalgic guy. After all, out of the four of them, Alvaro was the one who liked History the most. He agreed that understanding the past of the culture was important for personal development of an individual, thus he decided to go on the current journey. Perhaps, he should do it more times and get on studying more History. He wondered if Isco would agree with him. Well, probably not, he was a futuristic man... Isco. He caught himself thinking about the game magazine once more. He wanted so much to see him again.  

* * *

_“toni is coming with us”_

Isco sighed at James’ message. Why did he always end up getting in the middle of their problems? He didn’t want to interfere in their business again. That was something they had to solve between them. He needed to find a way of letting the two talk alone, without them getting upset or cancelling the talk. But how?

A message came at that moment.

 _“hey are you busy today?”_ It was from Alvaro.

_“ugh how insensitive of me. Of course you are busy, you have the fair besides the work.”_

Isco made sure to reply as fast as he could.

_“hey, I’m busy rn but after work I have nothing to do, and i'll probs leave earlier 2day.”_

_“good! Would you like to spend some time at the library then? It's not an entertaining activity for every1, I know, and I wont mind if you refuse”_

_“y would i refuse? screw the cliches, meeting at libraries is creative and what not exciting. Moreover, I’m still in need to remember that book genre, maybe we can find some nice titles. Which library though? There are so many in Madrid.”_

_“I’ll help u ;). I thought about going to"Rafael Alberti" library. Do you know where it is? At which time are you leaving today?”_

_“I have some notion, but it'll help me if you give me a reference. idk when i leave, maybe when I finish some preparations.”_

_“okay, i'll send you the directions._

Alvaro sent Isco a link to the library and told him how to arrive the place, step by step. The shorter man raised an eyebrow, impressed by the taller's effort to help him.

_"tks, Alvaro. i'll send u a message when i'm done for the day."_

_"k, see u *heart emoji*"_

_"see u *heart emoji"*_

If Isco wasn’t sure before, then he had the confirmation that somehow their minds were connected. Or it was another coincidence that added up to the growing list of facts. Isco questioned how could it happen to exist someone like Alvaro in the world...Someone with whom he had a strongy harmony, even though their meeting was so recent. Just now, for instance, the reporter saved his day from being a 'meddle into friends' business again'. He sent a message to James right away. 

_"james, actually i have to go somewhere after work. Pls don’t be mad with me.”_

_“I’m not mad, maybe it’s better just me and toni after all. Things wont be pretty for him and I don’t wanna get you involved more than you did.”_

_“you can always count on me, but yeah you guys will be more comfortable to talk in particular. Good luck with him, bro.”_

_“tks, I’ll tell u later how it went!”_

Now that things were settled, Isco decided to get back to work and finish his duties, so he could meet his friend, crush, whatever...Alvaro. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Comments are inspiring! What did you think of this chapter?  
> -Kudos are appreciated as well.
> 
> P.S: I'm looking for a beta-reader for this story. Please, if you have an experience with writing/reading/revising, would you mind giving me a helping hand? *looks with puppy eyes* I'm facing some issues with the plot development...Well, if I write more here, I might end up giving spoilers lol, so, if you're interested, please, comment or send me a message at my writing blog: ~~http://palavras-emocoes.tumblr.com/ask~~ (I used to have another blog, fandom/football related on tumblr, but I deleted it a while ago). Thank you in advance! :)
> 
> EDIT: new blog url: <http://sensiblekitty.tumblr.com>. I still need a beta-reader. :(


	6. The special one?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Álvaro and Nacho meet in their old school building, and Nacho gives him love advice. ;) Later on, Álvarito and Isco meet up in the library. On a side (and small) note, Toni and James go back home together, after they agreed to talk on Toni's apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -It's so good to start the year with more Isco and Álvaro interaction ~~even if it's on the fanfiction universe~~! Not that I made a chapter centered on Morisco on purpose...it's all because, as usual, I got carried away with writing and had to change my plans in the process lol. 
> 
> (Please, forgive this author for the ignorance regarding the mentioned places. She has never been to Madrid, thus she had to rely on Google to decide on the names, with no clue about distance, railway stations and such.)
> 
> -If you are a fan of James/Toni and you are waiting for their backstory, please, read the note at the end. :)

A few hours have passed since Alvaro left the Santiago Bernabéu. He walked around the city, had lunch in a home restaurant and took the railway to ‘El Prado’, the institution where he completed his elementary and secondary formation. Now, sat in the bank of the school block, the reporter remembered the times he, Nacho and Dani used to play football there. They used to joke they would become footballers, but contrary to their belief, all of them followed the journalism career. He laughed at their innocence back then.

“Remembering the past?” Alvaro froze in his seat as he heard a familiar voice approach. He fixed his gaze on the man that smiled in front of him, his closest old friend, one of those he ignored the past months.

“I’m just...finding myself again.” A disconcerted smile formed in Alvaro’s lips.

Nacho, who was on his way back home and lived close to the school building, had seen Alvaro taking photos of the place. At first, he thought he could be someone with a similar feature, but as he approached, he had the confirmation of his identity.

“It has been a while.” Nacho held out his hand and Alvaro accepted with a handshake. Their 'traditional brotherly' handshake, something they invented years ago and kept doing. 

“Yeah.” Alvaro grinned, but the grin disappeared as soon as the guilty took part in his mind. “I’m sorry, Nacho. For being a bitch and cutting contact with you and everyone else.”

“Dude, you worried us indeed.” Nacho patted on Alvaro’s shoulder. “But it’s okay, as long as you don’t do it again.”

“I won’t, for the sake of our friendship and myself.”

The two friends stayed silently, watching the amateur football team made of students gather around the block.

“So, how are you now, Alvi?” Nacho asked, breaking the silence that hovered in the air. “I heard you met Dani and Jesé a few days ago.”

“I’m fine now, but I have had some shady moments recently.” Alvaro sighed, his back curved in a slouch.

“Let me guess: you have worked until exhaustion and your boss told you to rest.”

Alvaro didn’t answer. All he could do was to look down on his feet.

“I’m sorry, I lost control of my bad habit and I didn’t want to worry anyone.”

“Alvi! We promised to, as much as possible, not to hide any secrets from each other.” Nacho said ‘as much as possible’ because he knew everyone had a secret to hide. “We are almost brothers. You can count on me. ”

“I know, but…I couldn’t help it then. I wasn’t confident with myself and I felt like a burden to everyone.” Alvaro quivered his lips and paused. “However, I finally understand people’s feelings when they become worried.”

“You do?” Nacho raised his eyebrows.

“We worry about other people’s welfare, as they seem to forget about their own health, but it’ll never be enough. We wish they learn to look after themselves.” Alvaro narrowed his eyes and reflected on the words he just said, being aware that they also suited his situation.

“Well thought. I didn’t know you had such self-awareness.”

“It was just a thought that came yesterday, after I kinda rescued someone.” Alvaro put a hand on his chest and recalled his moment with Isco and the hug they shared the day before.

Nacho furrowed his brow. There was something different in the way Alvaro said ‘someone’, in the way his body language told more than mere words. 

“Someone? Do I know them?” Nacho asked with curiosity.

“Fuck, Nacho.” The other man crinkled his nose. “I really can’t hide anything from you, huh.”

“You don’t have to say if you don’t want to…But your face right now tells that this ‘someone’ is not a random someone.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell. I was on the way back home after giving a lift to my co-worker Fernando, who’s on duty here. The RE building was on the route and I passed nearby. I was waiting for the traffic light change until I saw, on the sidewalk, a guy with difficult to walk. Each step looked heavy for him; the collapse was just a matter of time and it happened a few meters away. I wasn’t going to check, but sudden, I had seen myself in the guy’s place.”

“And you decided to go after him."

“Yeah, I parked the car and I made a resolution to call an ambulance if nobody did so.”

“Did you know if the guy is an employee of RE?”

“He’s your co-worker, it seems? Since you work in the game magazine.”

“There are so many men in the magazine.” In fact, Nacho already had his cents on the man's identity, needing just the name to confirm it.

“Isco is his name.”

Bingo. Nacho's eyes crinkled and the reporter smiled widely, as his prediction turned out right.

“Isco? How funny, he didn’t tell us about this, yet he looked very energetic today, with a stupid smile on his face. How could it be possible for someone to recover that fast though? Maybe someone did a miracle there.”

The reporter from the Italian newspaper blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it’s good to hear he’s fine and energetic.”

“You seem to care a lot about him.” Nacho suggested.

“I…can’t deny he’s very sympathetic and cute.”

“He’s a good guy.” Nodding his head, Nacho gave a thumb up. “I approve of him if you two decide to be a thing.”

“You too?” Alvaro covered his face with his hands, feeling it heat with embarrassment. He knew he couldn’t deny to Nacho; therefore, for the first time after long, he decided to be sincere regarding his feelings.

“I like him, like I probably never did with anyone, but…it shouldn’t happen, not in the way I am now. Besides, our meeting is so recent, we have just become friends, he wouldn’t feel the same way.”

“Why it shouldn’t happen? Isco seems to like you too.”

Alvaro widened his eyes. The other man’s suggestion didn't make any sense. “How do you know?”

“Alvaro, you need to see his behavior these days. Besides the alternating moments of daydreaming and overexcitement, whenever he hears your name, he blushes.”

The booklover felt a pit in his stomach. Did Isco feel the same way towards him then? If so, what would it mean? That he would have a chance? Then, even if he did, he was not supposed to get into any kind of involvement. That has been his self-commitment ever since he made a resolution to succeed at work.

“It doesn’t mean anything, does it? He might like the name ‘Alvaro’, or it might remind him of someone important to him. The alternating moments might be signs of distress.” The booklover came up with random explanations, only to deny the possibility of a reciprocate feeling. “We can’t be together anyway, as next week I’m returning to Italy.”

“Man, how can you be so clumsy? If you like Isco, why don’t you give yourself a chance and try perceiving his true feelings? You never know if you don’t try. At least you won’t return to Italy with regrets.”

“It won’t be good for any of us. Even if we got together now, we would have to keep a long distance relationship. Except for internet conversations, we won’t see each other, we won’t have time to talk because of the time zone. Our feelings won’t survive the distance and we’ll grow apart, until we eventually forget about each other.” Alvaro rested his chin on his hand, a whole scenario unveiling inside his mind beforehand. He reached to the conclusion that the best to do was to just to be friends with Isco. ‘At least friendships last, love doesn’t’, he reflected, based on previous experiences.

Nacho shook his head, not surprised with Álvaro's descriptions of a long distance relationship's outcome. “You haven't changed, just as pessimistic as always.”

“Pessimistic no, realistic yes. You, who have been close to me for so long, know it wouldn’t work.” The booklover said, a lump forming in his throat. There was that one time he got in a long distance relationship. Maria, his girlfriend back then, was also his classmate from college, and they dated for five years. Then, after they graduated, she found a job in China. They had their ups and downs: they broke up and stayed apart for months, but made up on holidays. This dynamic repeated during one and a half years, until she decided to put an end to the relation and moved on. Since then, Álvaro preferred to stay single.

“Isco is not Maria. The fact that it didn’t work with her doesn’t mean it will repeat with someone else.”

Alvaro scratched his head, checking the hour on the phone. “I have to go now. It’s getting late, and I still want to go to the library.” 

“Think more about it, Alvi. It’s a chance for you to leave the comfort zone you created to protect yourself.” Nacho squeezed Alvaro’s shoulder. “If you need any help, you can always count on me.”

“Thanks, Nacho, but I’ve already made my resolution.”

Nacho sighed. It wouldn’t be easy to get those two to understand their feelings. That was time for him, Dani and Jesé to make a new reunion on their own ‘operation matchmaker’.

After that, the two old friends greeted each other and parted ways, with Nacho resuming the route to his home and Alvaro heading back to the railway, intending to visit the municipal library. The booklover checked his messages and noticed there was one from Isco from about five minutes ago.

_“hey Alvaro, I’m leaving now. Might arrive in approx. 30 minutes. See ya <3 <3”_

_“hey Isco, I’m on the railway now. See ya :3 <3 <3”_

\---

The working hours at the newspaper department were over for the day, and all the reporters got ready to leave.

“Wish me luck, Luka.” Toni has told the fellow photographer earlier on and shared his insecurities towards the meeting with James.

“Good luck, my friend. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you two will be on good terms again.”

Toni thanked Luka and left the news department with a lump on his throat. He stopped his track, hesitating for a moment on whether he should really talk to James. Remembering his talk with Jesé, he decided not to back down and resumed walking. He wouldn’t be coward this time. When he left the entrance door, he found James stood a few meters ahead, with a calm expression. He searched for Isco, but no signal of him.

“Hey.” Toni approached James, making sure of his presence.

“Hey.” James gave a small smile.

“Where’s Isco?”

“He told me on the last hour that he had an appointment somewhere else.”

“Really? Then, is it just the two of us?”

“Yes, any problem with that?” James raised an eyebrow, staring right into Toni’s eyes.

“N-no.” Toni gulped, stuttering. The fear was obviously showing through his face, and Toni wished James hasn't noticed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t become a monster...Unless you give me a reason to.”

Toni winced at the way James talked. Was it too late to run away? He took a deep breath and told himself to calm down.

“Me? Haha. Why would I make you mad? After all, I have nothing to hide.” He let out a laugh, feeling his hands tremble and sweat.

James narrowed his eyes, but shrugged, trying ignoring his suspiciousness towards the co-worker behavior. “Where are we going to talk, by the way?”

“I thought about my apartment, since the copy of that article is saved on an old pen-drive and I want to talk to you about it. Is it okay for you?”

“Anywhere is fine.” James looked away. Apparently indifferent, the Colombian did his best to hide his eagerness. They would eventually discuss about the article incident, months after its happening.

“Let’s go then.” Toni made a signal for James to follow him and the two started their track to the dormitory building.

\---

Alvaro took more time than he predicted to leave the station. The first train was too crowded and he had to wait for the following one. Between taking the second train, leaving the station and walking to the public library "Rafael Alberti", he arrived 10 minutes later than expected. He spotted Isco already in front of the building and rushed to his side.

“Hey! Sorry for the delay, the railway was too crowded.” Alvaro panted, almost breathless from the running. “Did I make you wait too much?”

“Hey! No problem, I arrived five minutes ago.” Isco assured the other man, patting on his back. “But did you come from another place? I thought you were home.”

“Yeah, I just paid a visit to my old school and even met an old friend of mine. We chatted for a while and I almost lost time. He’s your co-worker, by the way…Nacho, you must know him.”

“Oh, I know him.” Isco remembered Nacho’s words on the ‘dirty secrets’ of Alvaro and had to contain his urge to ask about them. “So, you two are old friends, then.”

“Nacho? We’ve been friends since we were little kids. We studied in the same class from kindergarten until high school. Dani joined us in elementary school, and it has been the three of us since then...Then, Jesé joined us on High School and the four of us chose journalism as a career and watched almost the same classes.”

“Wow, amazing. No wonder Nacho said he knew some secrets of you.” The words came out of the gamer before he took notice.

“What? Did he say it? That bastard…” Alvaro blushed hard.

“But don’t worry, he didn’t tell me anything.” Isco assured, but deep inside admitted that he was still curious to know. “Let’s come in? I can’t wait to merge into the world of books.”

“Sure, let’s go.” They walked inside the municipal library. Alvaro had no clue on the ‘dirty secrets’ mentioned by Nacho, but he surely would have a talk with his friend later on.

“So, where should we go first?”

“Let me see. If I remember well, you said you liked fiction. We should take a glance around the fiction sub-genres.”

“It could be something related to sci-fi. I mean, I love scientific fiction.”

“I imagined so.” Alvaro smiled. They headed for the fiction section and Alvaro looked around the place with nostalgic eyes. He knew practically every section of the library, as he used to visit it every day. The fictional genre was his favorite in his teenage days. From historical fiction to dystopian, from mainstream titles to classical ones, he read every sub-genre type that sat on that bookshelf. “Have you read “1984?”

“I have. Such an amazing classic. “Brave New World” is another masterpiece.”

“Aren’t they? What about “Fahrenheit 451”?”

“I haven’t read yet, though I have heard positive opinions.”

“Then, let’s take this. You’ll like the book, I’m sure. We should also go for the classics for now.”

They spent hours walking around the shelves and taking titles, according to Álvaro’s recommendation. “Dune”, “Foundation”, “The Name of the Rose”, “The Count of Monte Cristo”, and the list went on. In the end, they took the maximum number of titles allowed for rent, Álvaro also picking some to re-read.

“How are we going to carry all of this though?” Isco asked, while he lifted the weight of the books.

“If I had my parents’ car with me, things would be easier. I’m sorry.” Álvaro admitted, feeling bad for picking so many books. “Let me help you with this.”

“Thank you, but it’s too heavy.”

Álvaro tried carrying the package and even succeed at first. Unfortunately, though, he couldn’t keep his walk for too long without stopping to get some breath.

“I must be aging, it’s too much for me.”

“Pfff, the old man version is back now.” Isco shook himself with laughter. It was too cute to see him pout like that.

“Don’t mock me! You also can’t carry that freaking weight.”

Isco’s moment of laughter disappeared and he sighed. “Should we get a taxi, then?”

“Let me see.” Álvaro checked the time. His mother was almost leaving her work, maybe she wouldn’t mind giving them a ride. After all, her work place wasn’t too far from there. “I think there is no need to, Isco. I’ll talk with my mom and ask her to meet us.”

Álvaro left the building and dialed his mom’s number. He just hoped she would be okay with that. Five minutes later, the reporter came back and told Isco that she would arrive in half an hour.

“How about we go to the library’s café while we wait for her?”

“Fine with me.” Isco smiled and they slowly made their way to the café, with the heavy package of books on their hands.

While they waited for Alvaro’s mother, they ordered some coffee and kept chatting. The taller man still recalled the talk with Nacho earlier on and the curiosity to hear from Isco and to know if he had a slight chance with him just increased since they met in front of the library.

“Isco, would you mind if I ask you a question?”

“You don’t have to be so polite, dude. We’re already friends! You can ask me anything.”

“Okay then.” Alvaro paused. Ignoring the bothering heartthrob, he collected all his courage to threw in the said question. “Are you in a relationship at the moment?”

The shorter man, after hearing the other man’s inquiry, bended his head, the blush covering his face in red.

Seeing the other man’s reaction made Alvaro regret asking. “Oh God. Are you okay? I’m sorry, it was a stupid question," he apologized, looking away.

“No, it wasn’t stupid.” Isco fanned himself with a paper while he mentally self-reprimanded for the silly body reactions, and looked at the other man. “I’m not in any kind of relationship. To be sincere, I never truly dated anyone.”

The comment brought Alvaro's attention back to Isco. “Is that so? Then you are newbie in this field of experience?”

“Newbie, no. Let’s say I’m quite experienced into…you know, occasional relations, that I never saw relationships from a serious perspective and always viewed them as a game.” Isco bowed his head, feeling like an insensitive egotistic piece of crap.

“Game...An interesting point of view. I never thought about it.” Alvaro tugged his ears, contemplating the way Isco talked about the topic: not something the other man seemed to be proud of. “But if it’s a game, what does winning mean for you?”

The gamer frowned at the other man’s question. He never really considered the outcomes of the game, but instead, recklessly followed its 'rules'.

“I don’t know. Maybe…I win when I get to ask the other person out first and they accept?”

“Is that all? What about afterwards?”

“Afterwards, we go on a date and that’s all.” Isco replied briefly. As he talked, he made notice of how superficial he has been and didn’t want to think about his past, throwing back the question to the other man. “What about you, are you dating someone?”

Alvaro leaned forward as Isco talked, not sure if he was amused or disappointed at the lack of involvement in the shorter man's relationships. When he got asked, however, he backed away and blushed lightly. “About me…I haven't gotten into a relationship for over a year, unless you consider work as a partner. If so, then I’m seriously committed to work.”

“But have you dated someone previously?”

“Yeah, I dated a girl, Maria, for over 4 years, but she moved to China and we broke up.”

“Four years…Wow it’s a long time. I never thought about being committed to someone for that long. You surely are into serious relationship.”

“I have been a huge supporter of this type of relation, yes, but I'm learning to appreciate my own company. My friends say that I’m stupid because according to them, serious relationships these days are outworn and they suggest me to go for hook-ups instead.” Alvaro paused, chin rested on his hands. Then, he shrugged. “I don’t care about what they say anyway. Perhaps I’m a hopeless romantic, but I still believe that everyone has that one special person in the world who understands them better than anyone, who is by their side despite all the adversities, someone who loves them despite their flaws. I'm willing to be someone's special person, even if it means to wait for them.”

Isco widened his eyes as he listened to Alvaro’s speech. ‘A special person in the world who understands them better than anyone’ summoned his developing feelings for the other man. Their meetings by chance, their instant connection, the way Alvaro seemed to read his thoughts. Their silent understanding through their eyes, without the need of words.

“You are not stupid to have this mindset; on the opposite, it makes you unique. I admire you, really.”

“Thanks, Isco." Alvaro blushed at the shorter man’s praise; nevertheless, for the first time, they showed a different view on a topic. "Well, at least we have something to diverge. You see ‘love’ as a game and I am a foolish romantic disguised as a cold-hearted-workaholic.”

The two snorted as they made that realization. Until then, they just had points in common: taste in music, food, sport, views on life in general, so that was a change in the scenery. Even so, shouldn't they be on accord on the view of love, if by any chance one day they decided to be more than friends? That thought spanned Alvaro's mind. 

“No, but this idea of meeting that one-person is cool. In this world filled with superficiality and impermanence, having someone who understands you best and stays by your side is comforting and heart-warming.”

“It surely is, but at the same time, it sounds too unrealistic, I must admit. I’ve been looking for that one person for years, and whenever I think I’ve found them, I find out to be wrong." Alvaro shook his head in disbelief. "I’m coming to the conclusion that such person doesn’t exist. If we keep seeking for them, we won’t be happy, because we will always have expectations."

“I disagree with you, Alvaro." Isco retorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Instead of expectation, I’d say hope. We don’t need to seek for them. Perhaps, it’s just a matter of living our lives normally and then, when we less expect, we might find them.”

"For someone who doesn’t take love seriously, you sure made a deep reflection now."

“I guess you just convinced me to believe more in love; moreover, after hearing your talk, I think I have already found that special one.” Isco lowered his head, the blush once more increasing on his face.

“Is that so? Lucky you.” Alvaro slumped his shoulders. ‘Isco was in love with someone, but didn’t get into a relationship with that person yet’, he concluded and presumed he didn’t have any chance. “In my case, I don’t think I’ll find them…”

“Perhaps, if you look around well, you’ll realize that this person might be closer than you imagine.” Isco held his breath. His whole body heated by embarrassment, heartbearts racing as he spoke those words.

As Alvaro was busy with his mental rumination, he kept his look away, not being aware of Isco’s manners. “Okay, new romantic. I’ll make sure to do so.”

The surrounding air between them became heavy as the silence prevailed in the table. Alvaro, then, moved from that topic and instead, talked about the books they chose to read, proposing a deal with Isco to discuss the stories later on. They also chatted about the fair.

“How are the preparations so far?”

“From my part and from the online staff, everything is ready. Then, the rest is up to the organizers. They are in charge of arranging the stalls and such, but I guess everyone from the magazine will have to work tomorrow, so we define the last arrangements, such as the number of reporters, the shifts…”

“Sounds exciting. I can’t wait for the event!”

“I can’t wait either, man. This is the biggest event of the year for the technology and game areas!” Isco almost jumped out in excitement, but contained himself and just opened his arms widely, reaching out to the taller man and holding their hands together. The joy in Isco’s eyes reflected on Alvaro’s and the two grinned widely at each other.

In that moment, however, Alvaro’s phone buzzed and interrupted the cheerful moment between the two men.

“Oh, it’s my mom. She told us to wait in front of the library. Shall we go?”

“Let’s go, then. Thanks for the ride, by the way!”

“No problem, Isco. That’s what friends do!”

The two men paid the bill and slowly made their way back to the library entrance door, while carrying the heavy package.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Comments inspire me to keep writing. So, please, tell me your thoughts on the chapter? :D  
> -Kudos are also welcome!  
> -The shortage of Toni and James in this chapter will be compensated over the next updates, as I'm going to post their backstory here, in this same fic. ;)


	7. Side story (James/Toni): "Mientes" - part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the backstory of Toni and James, narrated in the format of a monologue in 4 chapters, with alternating point of views. In this chapter, we have James' POV. Be aware of the angst, I advise you. :/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had written this a while ago and planned to turn it into another series, but as I started the sequel, I realized that this backstory should be posted here, after all, the plot of both stories are related. Sorry it took so long to tell Krodriguez backstory, but I wasn't -and I am still not- confident to post it, because of the different narrative focus and also because it's centered on James and Toni. Since I couldn't find a beta-reader, I'm posting this on my own risk of failure lol...let's see how it goes. I really, really hope you like it. *bows*
> 
> EDIT: Title inspired by the song "Mientes", by the group Camila.

My travel to Madrid came with little plans. I was eager, after all, I got a job in one of the biggest publishing houses in the world, but the sense of reality just hit me the day I moved to my apartment. I remember, then, that all the new employees gathered around the property owner room. There were about ten of us waiting for him to give the keys. We had no idea on how long he was going to make us wait; we were already there for an hour. Sat next to me, there were two men. One of them, brown-haired with the dark brown eyes, had his attention on a PSP console all the time. He groaned in frustration and threw the object into his bag. The other one, blonde-haired with blue eyes, awoke from a nap with the surrounding noise, yawned and looked around, meeting my eyes.

“Is this some kind of a rite of passage, to make us wait with our stuffs here?” He asked me, as if I could answer him.

“Dunno, man. I’m as lost as you here.” I was in a bad mood and answered rudely.

“It’s just the landlord’s delay. He doesn’t live here, and nobody knows when he’s coming.” The brown-haired man commented. “I know it because a resident passed by earlier on and told me that.” He added.

We didn’t exchange additional words, we just waited for the landlord and looked at each other with lost expressions. I was tired from the trip and bored from the wait. I needed some distraction, so I started a conversation with them.

“Where are you going to work?” I asked, introducing myself. “I’m James. Although its pronounced with the sound of “R”, it’s written with “J”. I’m going to work at Real Diario.”

“So, we’re going to be co-workers.” The blonde man gave a half-smile. “I’m Toni.”

“I’m Isco and I’m going to work at the R-Up! Magazine.” He greeted and pouted shortly after. “Shit, I hope I’m not going to be the only newbie there. So far, everyone with whom I talked will work in other publications.”

“R-Up?” The blond guy and I said at the same time.

“It’s a new publication, it seems, inspired by its online version. I don’t know about the details though.”

“Good luck to you then, Isco…right?”

“Thanks, good luck to you as well, ‘Hames with J’!” Isco joked after my name and gained my sympathy right away.

Toni didn’t say anything. He didn’t seem interested in interactions, as he paid more attention to his phone. He looked so quiet back then.

Hours later, the proprietor arrived and apologized to all the people. He gave each one the keys, and I found out the two men with whom I talked earlier were also my neighbors.

At first, although Toni and I were co-workers, we didn’t talk much. We belonged to the same group of friends, but we barely interacted. I wondered if he disliked me, because whenever I tried to speak with him, he replied with short words and went away. However, because we had similar routines, as time went by, the awkwardness disappeared and we became closer. We joined each other’s companion for lunch and we went to work and came home together.

From then on, we were almost every time in each other’s companion. Even if one had to stay late in the work, the other waited. As our co-workers said, we found some kind of uncommon affinity. For instance, when Toni struggled with the Spanish grammar, I helped him out. On the other hand, he revised my English translations. That was how our relation worked.

Our affinity was so strong that it didn't take long until we wrote articles together. For two reporters who were novices at the team, the idea of working under a pseudonym seemed more comfortable at the time, so we agreed to publish our first collaboration under the initials "KR". It would be just an article posted at the newspaper site, with no expectations whatsoever. It turned out, though, that our work had a positive response from the audience. We were so successful that we gained a weekly column in the site. At that time, we turned out to be great friends.

I’m not sure when our relationship took another step though. Things just changed slowly but intensely. I still remember our first romantic date. I never asked about his relationship status, because in his social network profiles, there were no indications of 'someone special' in his life. In his Instagram, there were just photos of him with his family and friends from Germany. His Facebook profile didn’t mention any relationship. Still, I wanted to have confirmation that day, before we took our relation to another step. 

"We have been flirting for a while, but...I never asked you the first thing we should ask a love interest: are you single?" I said, more to make things clear, because I trusted Toni.

"Is that what makes you hesitant? Don't worry, baby, I'm single." Toni held my hands and leaned forward, looking at me with those bright eyes. "Why don’t we give us a try? We are so meant for each other."

"Why not? We're both single and free. We don't owe anything to anyone." I mimicked his movement, breaking the distance that separated us. I took one of my hands away from his hold, and with the back of it, I caressed his cheek. My eyes contemplated his pale skin and followed the path down to his lips. My fingers traced its curves playfully. I stared back at him. "I love you, Toni." I whispered.

“I love you too, James.” He said, and that was when we shared our first kiss. I still remember the sensations of it: it was as if the time stopped in that moment. I lost myself into his lips, into the warmth of his touch. It was breathtaking and addicting in a way that we couldn’t stop tasting each other’s mouth.

The limits between friendship and love, then, faded away without any notice. It became natural to be in his arms, to have our lips sealed together, to spend the night in each other’s home and leave one’s belongings in the other’s places. At that rate, we lived as a couple.

The thing about being in love is that our heart speaks louder than our reason. I was madly in love with Toni and I was sure he loved me back. Sadly, I found out later on that I was wrong. In front of me, he made beautiful declarations of love, promises about the future and everything. Behind my back, though, he hid a secret: he was engaged. To another man. The fricking jerk left a fiancé in Germany and never told me about.

Everything happened in the first week of January, a few days after the New Year. The team from the newspaper gave a bonus payment for those who worked extra hours. As the costs of expenses with electricity, rent, bills in general were high and I still sent part of my payment to my family, I accepted the job. Toni decided to follow me and didn’t travel back to Germany either. At that day, we were working on an article collaboration on Toni’s apartment when someone knocked on the door.

“Who could it be at this time?” I checked my clock and it was past 10pm.

“It can’t be any of the guys, right? They are all on holidays.” Toni deduced. The knock resonated once more. “Maybe it’s better if I check it.”

“Okay, Toni.” I agreed, thinking it couldn’t be someone unknown. Maybe, one of our fellow co-workers on duty wanting some help?

If I knew who was about to come, I wouldn't have let Toni open the door.

“Thomas?!” Toni shouted surprised at the visit.

Thomas. Who was Thomas? I didn’t recall any person from work with that name. I immediately ran close to the entrance to check on the visit, but far enough not to be visible.

“Surprise, darling!” The man screamed, embracing Toni. “As you didn’t come back home, I came all the way from Munich to take care of you.”

“How did you know I wasn’t returning to Germany?” Toni drifted from his hug. “Anyway, I’m fully grown up and can take care of myself well.”

“You don’t have to be so rude. Your parents told me during the end-of-the year party and asked me to check on you.” He sounded offended by Toni’s reaction. “Won’t you invite me to come in?”

I observed the scene quietly. Toni had a look of someone who had just been caught in a crime scene. He stood by the door with mouth open. It took him a few minutes to process the whole situation and let the man come in.

“You live in a comfy place.” The visitor looked around the entrance, until he spotted me at the corridor and our eyes met. “Who is your friend?”

“Oh, this is James, my neighbor and co-worker.”

What have I just heard? ‘Neighbor and co-worker’? So, this was what I meant for him all this time? Not boyfriend, not even a friend?  

“Hey, James. I’m Thomas, Toni’s fiancé.”

I cringed at the word ‘fiancé’.

“H-hi. Nice to meet you, Thomas.” I shook the fiancé's hand, staring fixed at Toni asking for an explanation.

Toni avoided my stare. More than that, he ignored me.  

“So, Thomas, how long do you plan on staying?” He asked his ‘fiancé’ in a bored voice.

“Why? Do you want to get rid of me so soon?” Thomas pouted. “Am I this much of a bad company to you?”

“Sorry, darling. I’m just stressed with the work.” Toni rubbed his forehead.

“I don't know yet, I’ll stay for as long as you need me.” The other man clung to Toni. “We will have lots of fun together, honey.”

Darling. Toni called his fiancé ‘darling’. He never called me like that. I still remember that once, we joked about couples who called each other in a lovely way and about how, while we found it cute, we didn’t see ourselves doing it because we it was too corny. Another lie of him, it seems.

“Excuse me, Toni? Can we talk a bit, in particular?” I dragged him away from that Thomas guy. “What’s is this story of fiancé?” I hissed to him, trying my best to control the raising anger.

“It’s a long story.”

“So it’s true?”

Toni hesitated to reply.

“Just. Tell. Me.” I insisted. At first, I thought it could be some joke. Maybe this Thomas guy was just some friend of him who wanted to pull a prank on him? But when I saw their interaction and Toni's behavior, I panicked. 

“Yes.” Toni’s voice was almost inaudible. “I’m sorry.”

If a void opened in the floor at that moment, I would happily jump, so I could disappear from that place. He has lied to me all this time. Everything was a made-up story. Our bond, our promises, our love. The truth eventually surfaced and destroyed what we supposedly built-up until then. I couldn’t take staying there any longer.

“I have to go now.” I gathered all my courage to say. “And Toni? We need to talk later. You owe me some serious explanations.” I said, slamming the door. I ran to my apartment.

Looking from another perspective, I should have been braver and showed Toni's true colors to his fiancé at that moment. However, shock and humiliation prevented me from acting. To move from ‘the boyfriend’ to ‘the third wheel’ all at once was too much to handle. 

As soon as I arrived in my apartment, I sat close to the entrance. I didn’t want to feel the incoming pain, I didn't want to believe that what just happened was real. I wanted it all to be a nightmare and I hoped to wake up from it. Nevertheless, when I stood up, I tripped on something that was on the floor, and the pain in my foot brought my back to reality. Tears began streaming down my face and I couldn’t prevent myself from crying. That was the first time I felt so lonely in Madrid. How I wished, in that moment, that everyone was here, not on holidays. At least with my friends around, it would be easier to deal with such situation. 

After some time, when I stopped crying, I felt empty. I stared at the clock that sat on the living room’s wall. 2 A.M. I wanted to talk with someone. I needed to talk with someone. But who? I sent messages to Isco, Jesé, but at that time, everyone was probably sleeping…Their answer would just come in the morning. Then, I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t avoid thinking about those two engaged men, I couldn’t relax. Anger and hurt raged on my body. 

What did I do then? I left home and wandered around the neighborhood.

* * *

I am not the type of person who goes out alone in the middle of the night. On the contrary, aside from my routine work-home and the grocery shopping, I usually went to clubs with Toni and our friends. However, at that moment, I needed to go somewhere, anywhere far from home. Far from Toni.

I wandered around the neighborhood, until I found a bar that, according to my memory, I visited a few times with the group.

The bar was quite crowded at those early hours of the morning, if I remember correctly (that night still seems blurry to me), but I easily found a seat at the bar table.

"I want the strongest drink you have." The waiter looked at me with a grimace, but assented, returning a few minutes later with a bottle and pouring it into the glass in front of me.

“Heartbreak?” A man who was a few seats farther asked.

“Excuse me?”

“The drink you ordered is very, very strong. You probably want to forget about some bad happening.” The strange man suggested, pointing to the glass and then, looking at me. Damn, he had some intense blue eyes- I had to admit.

“What if I had a heartbreak? Is there any problem with it?”

“No, no problem at all. Don’t worry, I won’t judge you. We are all here for a reason, no? In my case, it's because of my personal problems.”

The man wore a suit with his tie undone and looked exhausted. Probably came from some fancy party.

“Well, we both must be problematic, to be at a bar at this hour.” I said, taking a sip of the drink and almost spilling it. The man next to me giggled.

“It seems you are not used to drinking.”

“I’m used to drinking for your information, just not to strong drinks like this.” I narrowed my eyes, as I swallowed the burning alcohol down my throat.

“You wanna an advice? Whatever hardship you are going through, just go home, talk with a friend, watch a movie. Don’t throw yourself into alcohol.” The stranger said in a relaxing manner.

“Says a man who is in a bar drinking alcohol.” I darted at him, pointing at the irony of his words.

“It’s as this old proverb states: Do as I say, not as I do.” The man shrugged. “If you took inspiration from me, sweetheart, you’d be screwed.”

“Well, your life isn’t much different from mine.” I commented, not surprised. “Regarding your advice though, my friends are on holidays, I live on my own here. Therefore, I have no one to talk. Besides, I’m not in the mood for movies.”

“Wow, it must be a difficult situation to suffer your heartbreak alone.” The man pitied me.

I took the drink all at once and the effect of the alcohol going down my throat made my body slightly tremble.

“Alone, yes, but I don’t need to be consoled by strangers.” I was defensive, I must admit, but it always annoyed me when people looked down on me. 

“Calm down, dude. I just wanted to show my support to you, even if we don’t know each other. I’m not interested in your life or anything like that, so chill!” The blue-eyed man reassured me.

The way the man beside me talked, somehow, soothed and comforted me, in a way so that he put my barriers down.

We stayed silent for a while, just sipping the bitterness of the alcohol, until he decided to share his own thoughts.

“I have just come from a wedding. It was my cousin’s wedding…she was the last of the cousins besides me who was single.” He paused, rubbing his forehead. “You know what is annoying? Everyone asking me when I’ll stop being single. It bothers me this pressure about my choices, my future, my love life. I mean, what if I don’t want to get married? What if I’m happy with my single life?”

“Ugh, that must be tough for you.” I commented, taken aback by the sudden venting from the other man. “Well, if you’re happy with your life, just say you prefer being single.”

“As if it was easy.” The man let out a long sigh. “I mean, not that I’m against marriage, just that I’m not ready to spend the rest of my life beside a person. I go out on dates frequently, but my relations never last long.”

“You’re more than right. Marriage, engagement, those are all shit.” I couldn’t take hearing the words ‘engagement’ and ‘fiancé’, or anything related to them, not in that night. “What happens when you commit to another person?! You just throw yourself in a trap from where you can’t escape. Then, you just fuck yourself up when you find out that they are a liar.” I ranted, holding the glass tight with my hands.

“Hmm…I can smell bitterness in your words. What makes you say so? The one responsible for your heartbreak?”

I took a shot of another drink and hesitated for a bit. Why should I confess my feelings to a stranger? When I was a child, the adults always told me not to talk with strangers, and I grew up with this in mind. Therefore, the fact that I was there, drinking and opening myself up to someone I never met was quite wrong, but the alcohol took care of blocking my self-consciousness.

“Yeah. That freaking person to whom I fully committed myself fooled me. He had a fiancé and hadn’t told me.”

“You refer to the person as a ‘he’?”

“Yup. I’m gay.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“So, him. He was engaged to another man when you two met. Had he never worn a ring or something like that?”

“Nope. Not even once.” I replied frustrated. Of course, if I knew he was taken, I would never had involved myself with him.

“But what if they had broken up before he moved?”

“They hadn’t. He confirmed it when his fiancé came today.”

“So, you just found out.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here now.”

“I’m sorry to hear about this.”

“It is okay. I think I’ll get used. The problem though is that we are coworkers, so it’ll be fucking awkward tomorrow. I don’t even know how I’ll face him without losing my mind.”

“Ugh, I wouldn’t like to be on your shoes, but good luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

My newly drinking buddy asked for the same drink as me and tasted the liquid, but like me, he almost spilled it.

“Shit, it is way too strong! How can you drink this?”

“You get used after the first shot, trust me.” 

He made a grimace, which made me smile a bit.

“Though honestly speaking, you have all the right to ask for an explanation, for his hiding the engagement.” He resumed our talk and gave me advice.

“Don’t I? That douche better be prepared, because he won’t be able to run away and avoid the talk. That bastard heartbreaker. Aaaaahhh, I’m so mad!” I cried out.

“An ex of mine did something similar. He pretended to be in love with me and used me as a stepping-stone. When he got what he wanted, he left me and we never met again.”

“Shit. What a jerk!” I exclaimed with indignation.

“I couldn’t deal well with this heartbreak, and after that I chose to go for casual relationships, because yeah I don’t trust anyone else anymore. That’s why I said that I’m happy on my own.

“I’m sorry to hear about this.” I said, trying to comfort him. I recalled the other man saying ‘he’ and couldn’t contain my curiosity. “So, you referred to your ex as ‘he’. It means that you’re also…”

“Gay? Yes. You’re beside a fellow member of the rainbow-colored community.” The blue-eyed man winked, making my heart race a bit.

“Nice. And it seems we’re also fellows from the brokenhearted men community.” I joked.

“We should celebrate today…For our heartbreaks and the douchebags that broke our hearts!”

“And for a bright future without them!”

After that, we chatted about stuffs I can’t exactly recall, because my head felt dizzy. The effects of the alcohol were at peak, as well as the side effects. I closed my eyes, placed my arms on the table and rested my head between them.

“You okay?”

I opened my eyes in slow motion.

“I’m torn. I guess I should go home.” I stood up and went to the cashier.

The blue-eyed man followed me shortly after I paid for my drinking shots.  

“My body can’t take any addiotnal drop of alcohol tonight.” He commented, while he made his payment.

We left the place together and waited for a taxi in front of the bar. If I were sober, I could easily walk by foot, but in that drunk state, I’d pretty much fall asleep in the first corner.

“Your face looks pretty bad, man.” The stranger mumbled to me.

“Yours is not far from being a mess.” I replied.  

We cracked up. There was nothing funny in that situation, but for an unknown reason –I’d blame the alcohol-, we laughed hysterically at our drunk faces, cutting the silence of the night around the neighborhood. When we stopped laughing, we looked at each other and smiled. I pulled myself into his arms and he cupped my face with his hands. With that short distance, we could pretty much smell the alcohol exhaled from our breaths, but we didn't care. In that moment, without thinking at all, we pressed our lips together. We, two strangers who met by chance at a bar, kissed in the early hours of the morning, on the sidewalk of the empty street. A protest against our heartbreaks? An acknowledgement of our struggles? I can’t tell what led us to do that. The kiss, in turn, wasn’t rushy, nor passionate, but it was surprisingly good, because I felt wanted in his arms, in his lips. I broke from the kiss with a big smile on my face. I was sure I was going to forget about everything anyway, so why care? 

When we parted ways, I didn’t ask for his name, nor his contact, but I wish I did, at least to thank him for that night. In some way, he made me feel better. I wonder if someday we will meet again. Nevertheless, even if we meet, he most likely won’t remember me, as much as I don’t have a recollection of his face, except maybe for those intense blue eyes, and the blurry moment we shared.

* * *

As I arrived home, I laid on my bed and fell in a heavy sleep right away, all dressed up with the same clothes. I slept for hours and just awoke by the sound of the alarm, which insisted on ringing. I opened my eyes and my head hurt intensely. I wondered if everything that happened was a nightmare, but the hangover reminded me of the reality. I looked at the clock and panicked. I was two hours late for work, so I took a cold shower to wake up, dried my hair briefly with towel-something I never did, because every day, I had a ritual for my hair and tidied it up. I looked at my portrait reflected in the mirror and got scared at the state of my eyes, swallowed and red from the crying and from the hangover. Shit. I looked like crap, but I had to go to work.

I took a hat and a pair of sunglasses as an attempt to cover the side-effects of the night before and I checked my phone. Several messages from my friends popped up in the screen, showing worry for my desperate calls. Another hour to get dressed summed up to my delay, but I couldn't leave before answering them that I was fine and that I would call later. Then, I took my bag and rushed to work, but not before going to a café and buying the shop’s strongest coffee. Even if it wouldn’t cure the ache of the heartbreak, it was still the best remedy for a hangover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Please, tell me your opinion about this part of the backstory. Depending on how it turns out, I might apply to other characters besides James and Toni. 
> 
> -Next chapter is told from Toni's POV. :)


	8. Side story (James/Toni): "Mientes"-part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the backstory of Toni and James, narrated in 4 parts, in the format of a monologue, with alternating point of views. In this chapter, we have Toni's POV, as well as an insight on his past relationship with Thomas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random notes
> 
> -Here's a friendly reminder that this monologue is filled with angst.  
> -Not sure if it turned out good, but I hope you enjoy part 2!  
> -I edited the title after I posted the first part. Then, I had written on the previous notes that it was inspired by the song "Mientes", by the group Camila. Here's a link of the song, in case someone wants to listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rwj_roGYiw. Lyric translation: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/mientes-you-lie.html-2

**Toni's POV**

When I saw James leave my apartment in such a state, I wanted to go after him and apologize for not telling him the truth, but I couldn’t move. It was a mix of shame and guilty that made me stand there and see everything ruin in front of me. I was in a state of shock, not knowing what to do, until Thomas called for my attention. My fiancé back then had no clue on my true relation with James. He just watched the scene silently.

“What’s going on, Toni?” He held my arms. “Because I can detect in the air that there’s something between you and your friend that I wasn’t supposed to know.”

“We…had a disagreement on our work, and he left.” I said, with the guilty increasing in my mind as I added more lies to complicate the situation.

“Is that so? Then why didn’t you go after him?” Thomas asked, crossing his arms and staring at me.

“I don’t know. I’m tired and I need some time alone.” I said, arranging all the material from work and leaving to my room.

Thomas walked after me. “Wait up there. You’ll leave me here, like this? Where will I put my luggage?”

I stopped my track and sighed impatiently.

“You have two options, Thomas: sleep on the couch or go to a hotel. You know very well that this apartment is small and has a single room.”

“Why can’t I sleep with you?” He said, while playing with his ring. Then, he focused on my hands and frowned as he noticed I wasn’t wearing mine. “Where is your engagement ring?”

“Wait, one question at a time. First, the room is a mess and the bed is too small for two. Second, I lost the ring…the day I arrived in Madri.” The second sentence was the only truth I told. I had no idea on where I lost it...perhaps in the airport in Munich? During the flight? Or even in Madrid, who knows? Point was that I just realized its absence when I came to my apartment. I contacted the airports as an attempt to locate the ring, but nobody found it. I ended up not telling Thomas because I was too afraid of his reaction, just like he showed at that moment. My fiancé glared at me, while tapping his feet impatiently.

“You’re lying. Let me see your room!” I tried to prevent him from going there, but he pushed me aside and opened it. The room was small as expected, but not messy. Problem was that there were stuffs from James around that I didn't want him to find out. 

“What the fuck, Toni? Don’t tell me that these stuffs are from your friend.”

I had no words to say. I couldn’t defend myself any longer. I was just sick of my own lies. 

“Say something, Toni!" He stroked his neck. "But this time, give me an honest explanation, please!”

I sighed heavily and put all the papers on a side of a small table. I made him sit on bed and I sat beside him.

“Okay, I’ll tell you everything, since hiding is useless now. The truth is that…I’m going out with James.” I said, trying my best to keep composure and expecting a drama scene coming from Thomas.

“So?” It was all Thomas said after I answered him, making me raise an eyebrow.

“So? Aren’t you mad at me?”

“Mad? Why would I be? You are just having a fling, aren’t you? It’s not like it’s something serious.”

“Wait, you should scold me. I cheated on you!”

“If it calms you, I also had some affairs during the time we were apart.” Thomas shrugged. “But now that we are together again, you don’t need him anymore.”

“So, you indeed went on dates without telling me, huh.” I commented, more as a confirmation, because I suspected long ago he was seeing someone else.

“Yup. We haven’t talked much lately; therefore, there was no way I’d tell you. I felt guilty and made a resolution to tell you on Christmas, but since you didn’t travel to Germany, I decided to come after you.”

“I see.” I said, not knowing what else to say. The problem was that James was more than a ‘fling’ to me. He was the man with whom I fell in love. He didn’t deserve to suffer because of me. “We need to talk about our engagement.”

“We need to! My parents kept asking me about it the other day. They want to know when we will get married.”

“Thomas, you see…We both cheated on each other. I don’t think we should talk about marriage. On the contrary, everything that happened is just a proof that our relationship is over.”

“No…No! That is not true. I…I’m willing to commit!”

“Thomas, I don’t want to hurt you, but we had talked about it before. Our relation has dried up. Instead of putting an end, though, we agreed to a long-distance relationship, yet it didn't work."

Thomas dipped his chin to his chest, his eyes stared down to his feet. He wasn’t crying, but I could tell he was on the verge of tearing away. I tried to comfort him, squeezing his shoulders, but he didn’t say anything. It was just after a while that he opened his mouth to share his thoughts on my decision.

“What if…we tried to make it work one last time?”

“Thomas…” I shook my head negatively. 

“Please, give us just a week. I promise that after that, if we no longer work out, I’ll return to Germany and we’ll part ways for good.” His eyes were desperate and begging for another chance. The way he looked at me made me feel like I was the bad guy in the story.

I sighed. “Okay, Thomas. If that’s what you want, we could try…just for one week. Then, after that, you have to promise me that if things don’t work, we’ll put an end to our engagement, with no hard feelings on both parts.”

“I promise.”

“You can sleep here tonight." I stood up. "I’ll go to the couch.”

“But…”

“It’s not because of you, it’s me. I just need a moment alone.” I took an extra pillow and blankets and left to the living room. That night, I recalled all the happenings that led to that complicated situation. In the midst of the turmoil, the hurt in James’ hurt expression haunted me over. I didn’t sleep at all.

* * *

**Life in Munich and move to Madrid**

Coming to Madrid meant a dream coming true. My career was going one step ahead. Not that the job in Munich was bad. I couldn’t complain about anything. I was home, I worked in a big publishing house, I had a stable life and a fiancé. The problem, however, was that I wasn’t fully happy with my life. 

Besides, my love life was not okay, as my relationship with Thomas had outworn. We used to argue frequently, one blaming the other for their absence, one wanting to have the last word over the other. The point was that, we drifted apart as we were busy with each one’s routine. Most times, Thomas wanted to go out clubbing while I worked home. Other times, when I had free time, he was the one on duty somewhere. Thomas was a photographer and we worked in the same publishing house, but our relationship didn’t start because of work. In fact, we knew each other way before, a long time ago…

During childhood, we grew up practically together. Because our families were very close, we spent a lot of time in each other’s house. I was one of the smallest children in school. The boys from our class used to bully me and make fun of my height. Thomas, however, was taller, and wasn’t afraid of them. He protected me every time they approached me. He acted almost like my bodyguard, following me around almost everywhere. As we grew up, our friendship just strengthened. We spent hours and hours chatting, badmouthing teachers and classmates, giving opinions about our crushes, talking about our dreams. We were best friends for life. In some moment, though, we came out about our sexual orientation, and that was when things took another stage. We were so young back then, so inexperienced at love, at life. I had an illusion that Thomas’ was my other half and so did he. We started dating with the certainty that our feelings would last forever, that there would never be another person and such.

After High School, we went to the same university and frequented the same classes. We both intended to follow the journalism career, but Thomas loved photography, his dream was to become a photojournalist. I, on the other hand, had a passion for writing. In addition to that, I had an ambition to work for a big publishing house someday, preferably in another country. I wanted to challenge myself into learning another language and master it, to get to know other places, other cultures. However, I had little support from the people around me. Whenever I told my family about my dreams, they told me that I was too much of a dreamer and a rebel. They insisted I should stay in Munich, with my loved ones. Even Thomas stayed by their side, as he has always been close to his family and he loved his town from the core.

“If it happens someday that you get a job in another country, will you leave me?” Thomas used to ask me every time I argued with my parents.

“No, Thomas, I won’t leave you, even because it seems my fate is to stay in Munich after all.” I comforted him. “I’m already cool with the idea of staying here after all.”

At the time, we were newly-graduates from university. It wasn’t easy to find a job, but we passed with high grades and Der B-München Verlag, one of the biggest publishing houses from Germany, offered us a job there. As the months progressed, we got used with our work, things stabilized and I pretty much forgot about the idea of moving. Thomas and I decided to be engaged, a way of settling down and sealing our ties. Our families, despite being close, didn’t support the idea at first. They thought we were too young, too immature to get engaged, but we insisted. It wasn’t easy, but we used our best arguments to convince them that our love was genuine and lasting, until they eventually gave in and accepted the union. We even moved in together.

Things progressed that way for the following two years, Thomas and I engaged, sharing the apartment and working in the same place, but different departments. At this rate, though, our routines didn’t match, we rarely met or spent time together. When we did, however, we fought, one accusing the other of not committing to the relationship.

Even if I have said that I forgot about my plan of moving abroad, I never really gave up. I kept sending my curriculum to big publishing houses outside Germany without any expectation of a reply. Therefore, when the Real Editorial contacted me and showed interest in my CV, I was taken aback with the proposal and took it with consideration. It was something I had been dreaming with for years, if I refused, who knew when another opportunity would come?

After some reflection time, I decided to resume my dream and give it a try. When I told my family of decision, surprisingly, they didn’t interfere.

“You’re already an adult, Toni. You know what you’re doing. We can’t do anything to prevent you from going, right?” My father said.

“Just promise to keep in touch with us.” My mother had her eyes on tears.

My brother Felix was the only one who fully supported me to go.

“Tell us how it’s like to live in Spain, okay? I’m already planning to visit you someday.”

“You’ll be very welcome there.” I smiled. At least one person was happy for me.

Thomas, on the other hand, took the news badly.

“You’re going to abandon me?" He pouted."Do you have the courage to leave your fiancé?”

I let out a sarcastic laugh at the way he accused me. 

“Are we still on this level of relationship? Thomas, we barely talk! We live in the same place, but there are days I don’t even get to see your face.” I reflected upon our behavior quietly, but could no longer keep to myself. “Moreover, how long has it been since we last hung out together on weekends? Perhaps, it’s better if we go separate ways from here on.”

I considered breaking off our engagement because we were practically apart then. A long distance relationship wouldn’t work if we consider the frailty of our relation. Thomas, however, denied our situation.

“We got just carried through the routine, but we can still find a solution.”

“Now that I’m moving to another country?”

“Please, don’t go.” He begged. “Stay here, I’ll spend more time with you, we can plan things together.”

“Thomas, I’m determined to go to Spain and you have to accept my decision. Besides, I’m not demanding anything from you. We just fell apart; I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do to fix it.”

He listened to everything quietly, and I could see something in his eyes that expressed regret. I wonder if he had done something wrong behind my back. After I finished talking, he lowered his head and opened his mouth.

“Okay, I accept your decision, but at least…Don’t put an end to our relationship.” Thomas begged, fighting against the evidence that our engagement has become a farce. “We know each other for so long. I’m sure our bond won’t break with the distance.” He took me on his arms. “You mean so much to me, Toni.”

“You mean a lot to me too, Thomas. You are right, maybe I’m acting hastily. This distance should do well for us to rekindle our relationship.” I turned my face so I could look at him straight into his eyes. “But I don’t want to give you any expectation.”

Thomas’s calmness expression changed into a frown.

“What do you want then? You say I mean a lot to you, yet you don’t want to give me any expectations of making up.” He folded his arms and glared at me.

“I don’t know anymore.” I shook my head. “I’m confused. I just don’t want to compromise with you knowing that we are already not in the same wave.”

“Break up with me then.” Thomas pointed his fingers at his own chest and shouted. “Dare to do it on my face now!”

“The drama begins.” I rolled my eyes, predicting another one of the countless heated and useless argument we had for months until my departure.

“No, Toni, I get it you don’t love me. It’s sad when someone we love so dearly doesn’t love us back.” Thomas cried out. The way he talked broke my heart and made me feel bad for him. Of course, I loved him back, just not as a love partner. 

“Sorry, Thomas. I didn’t mean it. I just...Okay, I won’t say anything else. I love you, just know that.” I closed the subject, without the courage to go further in our conversation.

“I love you too, Toni. I always will. Please, don’t abandon me.”

“I won't! We can chat every day, through Skype, Facebook, Snapchat, whatever social media there is.” I kissed his forehead and caressed his hair. “We will still stay close despite the distance.” That was what I said back then, but not what happened after.

Right in the beginning, after my arrival to Madrid, we used to call each other quite frequently. We chatted about how we missed each other, and we even made plans of a travel together and a marriage. However, as time went by, the chats shortened down again. There was the distance as an obstacle, yes, but it was just the surface of the issue, the unavoidable end of a relation. We no longer loved each other and the only plausible choice was to put an end to our engagement, even if our parents disagreed with us, even if the whole world judged us for it. I couldn’t understand, though, the reason for Thomas insistence. Why did he want to keep the fucking compromise if we acted like strangers towards each other?

On the other hand, there is James. Ever since the day we first met, when we found out to be neighbors and co-workers, he caught my attention. His posture and the way he looked around with confidence caught my attention. At work, it wasn't different. He proved to have a strong and charismatic personality. His braveness, his passion on everything he does, however, played with my ego. I felt challenged by him. Initially, I saw him as a rival and even resisted to becoming his friend. Although we had friends in common, I did my best to avoid opening up with him.

The rivalry from my side started with little things. One of them, for instance, happened when I heard people praising him at work for being responsible, as he was one of the first reporters to arrive and one of the lasts to leave. Jealous with the attention, I started tracking his routine, so I could surpass him. I woke up earlier in order to arrive before him. I stayed up late at work as an attempt to leave after him (he used to spend extra hours sometimes). Most times, though, there was no ‘winner’, because our paths eventually crossed, either on our way to work or back home. It was during this time, ironically, that we approached each other.

“Morning, Toni! It’s a good feeling to wake up early, right?” He reached me with a grin, his eyes as bright as the sunlight.

“Morning, James. Yes, it is.” I replied, and a smile surprisingly formed on my lips. I caught myself being happy with his presence.

“Would you mind taking a look at my article? Since you’re good at writing, it’s good to have a second opinion before turning the version for edition.”

“Okay, but do you promise to help me with Spanish? I’m still struggling with grammar.”

“Deal.” He winked, and his gesture made my heart pound.

We opened up to each other, something my ego has taken as a defeat. Nonetheless, it turned out that this opening up was good for us both; we formed a successful partnership, despite the language barriers. The collaboration was just a proof of our understanding, but who said it ended at work? Our connection turned into something else, something I hadn't predicted.

As time went by, I valued more and more our moments. I found out that life could be fun, because I learnt to smile every day in his company. Work, routine, everything became lighter. Sudden, I could see joy in ordinary acts: the little chats between breaks, the post-it messages and jokes exchanged during work; the sappy movies we watched when we got tired of writing at home. When I took notice, my heart had completely knocked over my ego and my pride. I found love again, but in a new, exciting shape. I was madly, deeply in love with James, in a way I never did with Thomas. I just had the proof of how much I loved James when we shared our first kiss together, in our first date. My racing heartbeats, my body arousal to the way he touched my face and played with my lips. I could no longer resist to his presence. It just felt the right thing when our mouths met together, as if I waited my whole life for that moment. After that intense moment, I realized I couldn’t go back to the ‘me’ from before, the cold ‘me’, the one who barely expressed his feelings, the one who just saw the bad in the world and in the people. James evokes the good in me and turns me into a better man.

Then, still in our first date, James asked me if I was single. In that instant, I must confess that Thomas’ name came into my mind, but I had no guts to tell the truth to the man in front of me. One could judge me for doing that, but I explain my reasons. Thomas and I have stopped talking for months. I had no idea on how he was doing, or if he had found someone else. The few times I tried calling him, he didn't call back. As I said, we acted like strangers. Our relation was based on anything but love. In addition, the absence of the engagement ring made it easier to forget about the engagemnt. In a few words, I was single indeed, but not officially.

I admit now that I should have been honest with both Thomas and James. For starters, I should have broken off the freaking engagement before coming to Madrid. That way, there would be nothing to prevent me from being together with James. Even so, I should have told James that I was engaged, even if it hurt, even if he no longer talked to me. At least, he wouldn’t hate me as much as he must do now. At end, I shouldn’t have given Thomas another chance. There was nothing left to us, yet he manipulated my feelings again. If everything ruined down, it was because of me. Guilty and regret would accompany me from here on, my conscience would always remind me of my stupid actions.

* * *

**The day after the fiancé’s arrival**

In the following morning, I went to work with a crushed heart. Each footstep seemed heavier as I approached the RE building. I knew I would have to face James, but I wasn’t prepared to talk with him, not after I stupidly agreed to give Thomas another chance. When I arrived, however, it surprised me that James wasn’t there, as he usually arrived first. I opened the file for the article we started working the night before. Damn it. It would be difficult to finish that collaboration, considering our personal situation. I tried to get ahead with writing, but I couldn’t focus.

Two hours have passed, and there was no signal of James. Marcelo came to my desk and asked me his whereabouts.

“Hey, Toni, is James sick? He hasn’t showed up to work yet.”

“I don’t know, sir. I didn’t talk with him this morning.”

“Has something happened between you? Since you are always together.”

“We got in an argument last night.” I lowered my head. I didn’t want to give him details of our relationship. After all, James and I made an agreement to, as much as possible, separate work from personal matters.

“Oh, I see. Things happen, I’m sure you two are going to make up soon.”

“I hope so.” I said, but knew it would be hard.

Over an additional hour later, James eventually showed up. It was weird to see him with sunglasses and hat, unusual accessory choices of his. Then, when he took them off, I realized the reason behind his dressing. Dark circles surrounded his reddened and swollen eyes. His hair was messy, which denounced that he woke up not long ago and had no time to tidy it, a ritual he always did in the morning. He was obviously torn from crying, but there was more to that. He had been drinking. I could tell it from the rare times we got drunk and had a hangover. Shit. The effects of my lies on him were worse than I imagined.

“Good morning, Marcelo. Would you mind if I work like this today?” I overheard him talk with our editor. His voice was husky and low-toned. “I woke up with an awful migraine and the light worsens the pain.”

“No problem, James, but are you feeling well to work? It’s okay if you need a day off.” Marcelo suggested him to take a rest and resume working the following day.

“I’ll get better, I just need to get immersed to work, but thanks for worrying!” He said with a smile, but with his voice almost gone.

Then, he came to my desk. I expected him to punch me, shout at me, scold me in any way, but instead, he asked about work.

“So, how will we resume that article?” He said. I could feel his eyes inquiring me through the sunglasses.

I avoided looking at him.

“I don’t know. What do you suggest? We don’t have much time to make a research.”

“First thing, it’s rude to avoid eye contact with the other person you’re talking to." He took his sunglasses away. "Thinking well, never mind. You most likely don’t have the guts to look at me now, huh.” He shrugged and cleared his throat. “I have an idea: let’s split the work and in the end, we join the parts. In our current state, there is no way we could co-work, not until you give me a proper explanation.” 

“Okay then.”

He clenched his fists and put the sunglasses back. “We are not done, yet, Kroos. I just won’t make a scandal now because we are at work and here, we are just co-workers, but you won’t run away from telling me the truth.” He warned and left to his desk.

Afraid of making things worse than they already were, I didn’t answer. I was aware of my cowardice. I simply deserved the title of the most idiot person for all my stupid actions. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Please, tell me your opinion on this chapter. :3
> 
> -Kudos are welcome as well. :)
> 
> -In the next chapter (part 3 of the backstory), we'll have alternating point of views on the incident with the article.


	9. Side story (James/Toni): "Mientes"-part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the backstory of Toni and James, narrated in 4 parts, in the format of a monologue, with alternating point of views. In this chapter, there is the incident with the article which led to their fight, told by both POVs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post on Tuesday, but since the interest on this backstory decreased, I think it's better to finish it as soon as possible, so I can resume the main story. Please, just put up a bit more with this, okay? *bows* 
> 
> (truth is that, I've been kinda busy with rl these past weeks, but I didn't want to leave the fic without updates, that's why I have posted the backstory. Fortunately, soon I'll have free time again, so I'll be able to write more! :))

**James’ POV**

After that day, I didn’t talk with Toni for the rest of the week. I sent messages to him, but he barely answered them. I called him several times, yet he didn’t call back. At work, he changed seats with another co-work so we couldn’t come across each other. At home, I saw through the window that he went out with his fiancé almost every day after the working hours and I had no idea when they returned. All his actions obviously indicated he avoided me, probably afraid of talking about his engagement and our relationship status.

It was natural that inside, Toni’s behavior hurt me deeply. I was ignored, betrayed and I felt like crap; nevertheless, I wouldn’t ruin my career because of a guy. No, he might have dumped me, but I wasn’t going to lose myself at work. That’s why, amidst all the chaos that surrounded my life, I still had the guts to care about our collaboration article. Even if he avoided me, I insisted on talking with him about our work.

The day before the deadline, I sent the copy of my part and I asked him to send me the initial part we wrote together and his part, just in case he missed some part. I was going to make my own version of that article because I had a bad feeling about it. I simply could no longer trust Toni. The lack of reply, in addition, just made things worse.

_“Toni, you can be a coward ass and avoid me all you want, but pls at least tell me what’s going on with our article.”_

_“Remember the deadline is tomorrow.”_

One hour passed and no answer came.

_“Toni, if you don’t reply, I’m coming to your apartment.”_

It took a warning for him to give a sign of life.

_“hey, impatient, rest assured, the article is almost finished.”_

_“what? You are doing everything on your own? You didn’t even consult me!”_

_“It is easier for me to finish because I have the first part of the article.”_

_“I asked you to send it to me.”_

_“For what? By any chance, are you going to make your own version?”_

_“What if I am? You’ve ignored me the whole week, Kroos. How can I trust you?”_

_“You should trust me, Mr. Rodriguez. I never ruined our work, did I?”_

I had no argument against him. He might be a douche in his personal life, but I couldn’t say the same about his professional life. He was impeccable at work.

_“At least, send me the final version, then.”_

_“Okay.”_

Even though he assured me that he was going to send me, it turned out he has broken his promise and hasn’t sent anything. I just saw the final version at work, in the worst way possible.

* * *

**Toni’s POV**

During the week, I tried to make things work between Thomas and I. I gave him a chance to him in honor to our longtime relationship, even if I no longer loved him. On the other hand, in order to sort my feelings out, I avoided contacting James, and I even changed seats with someone else, so I could keep myself far from him and reflect better on my decision. Thomas constantly reminded me that James was just an affair, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the pain on his face during those days. I observed him every day from afar and it hurt to be apart from him, to pretend I hadn’t seen his messages and calls. I loved my Colombian partner genuinely and it was impossible for me to see him like a hook up, to throw everything we had away and forget about my feelings.

Thomas did what he could to keep me distracted. After work, we hung out around Madrid and we just came back home later at night. I knew I had an article to finish, but he didn’t want to leave my side. We so tried to rekindle our relationship, but I couldn’t have sex with him, so I always came up with an excuse to sleep separately. Things were never the same indeed.

On the day before the deadline, successive messages from James came asking about the article, yet I hadn’t finished it. Then, Thomas approached me ready to go out.

“Darling, where are we going tonight?” He asked me with a grin.

“Sorry, darling, but tonight, I have to finish this article here. We went out the whole week, so please, give me some time to work. We can hang out tomorrow night, okay?”

Toni pouted at my words, but agreed to give me space to work. He left me alone in the living room, so I could have the table for myself and went to sleep in my room.

“I’m going to sleep now, so I’ll leave some snacks and tea here, just in case you get hungry. Good night and good luck with your work.” Thomas embraced me.

“Thanks, dear.” I embraced him back.

A few hours later, I sudden became tired. I gave my best to keep the focus on the screen of my laptop, on the text I was editing, but my eyes were heavy and insisted on shutting. I rubbed them several times, shook my head, gave short slaps on my face so I could stay awake, but I couldn’t prevent the sleep from taking over my body. I let my head lie beside the laptop and just woke up hours later, when it was time to go to work. When I opened my eyes and realized the work was unfinished, I almost freaked out. I have never let something like that happen. I didn’t have much time to think; therefore, I opened all the files and joined the parts in a single archive without revising the contents. I printed the paper and got ready for work.

* * *

**James’ POV**

Already on the main room, I saw when Toni arrived, passed through me without talking and went to Marcelo’s room. I waited in my seat with an apprehensive chest. I knew something went wrong, that bad feeling just increased. After Toni left the room, I called him up.

“I thought we had a partnership. Looks like I was wrong.” I snapped at him.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t send the file to you, I’ve just finished it. Don’t worry, though, because everything went smoothly.”

I narrowed my eyes, disappointed about his unprofessionalism.

“You finished in the morning? But didn’t you say last night that it was almost ready?”

“I…fell asleep, but I managed to wake up on time to finish it.” I instantly noticed that he told me another one of his lies. I shook my head in disbelief. I didn’t know what else to expect, after all his behavior. Maybe I was too stupid to trust him again.

“Okay, then. Let’s wait for Marcelo’s feedback.” I sighed.

Later on, our editor called both Toni and I to his room.

“What’s up, sir?” I heard Toni ask him.

“Well, we have some compelling situation here. I see you two have fought during the week, but it’s disrespectful and unprofessional when you throw your issues to work.” Marcelo said in a cold tone. I had never seen him so serious.

“Is there anything wrong with our article?” I felt my chest constrict. My presentiment got stronger with each minute passed.

“Yes, there are many wrong things with your article.” Marcelo flipped the pages. “For starters, what kind of language is this? It’s rude, offensive, completely unappropriated for our newspaper. There is bad language everywhere, especially in some parts of the text. See.” He gave a copy of the work to each one of us. “Then, there is suspicious information on them.”

I took a glance at the paper, trying to calm down because I did everything right. However, as I read the text, my eyes widened in horror. What the fuck happened with the article? The ‘problem’ happened especially in the part that I wrote. There were sentences without any logic, bad language words randomly thrown between the paragraphs, defamation on the big names of the publishing house. Nothing made sense there. All I could do at that moment was to look at Toni and ask for an explanation. To my dismay, he also stared shocked at the article.

“This second part…James wrote it.” He said.

“I wrote the second part, yes, but not this trash.” I defended myself. “I can prove it to you, because I have a copy of the file saved in a pen-drive.”

“I also have all the material saved, there is surely a misunderstanding here.”

Five minutes later, we came with our files and Marcelo printed and checked them.

“Look at it. They are divergent!” Marcelo frowned as he read the files, showing us the different versions of the text.

“I assure you that my version is the original one, I’d never write that thing.” I kept my word and I would defend it until the end.

“What about you, Toni? What can you say in your defense?”

“I did everything right, Marcelo.”

“Then, how did you let such a thing escape while you edited the article?”

“I don’t know, sir. I just copied and pasted James’ part because I trusted his work.”

“So, one of you is lying.”

“I’m telling the truth!” I raised my voice, indignant.

“Well, I’m also telling the truth!” Toni raised his voice as well, but then, he glared at me. “I wouldn’t doubt anything when it comes to heartbroken people though…”

Toni’s words worked like a slap to my face.

“What are you saying?” I looked at him wide-eyed. “Are you insinuating something?!”

“No, I’m just saying that you might have sought revenge on me because of what happened between us. I don’t blame you for being angry at me. After all, I’m a jerk who deserves to be hated, but you didn’t have to go that low, Mr. Rodriguez.”

It was true that I was mad at Toni for personal reasons, but as I said before, I knew to separate professional and personal life issues, so I would never seek revenge on work or even throw my anger on the people surrounding me. So far, nothing has been able to ruin my posture in public. However, when Toni pointed the blame on me, I lost my balance and felt the rage rise through my veins. I clenched my fist, advanced towards him and hit his jaw. 

“You bastard…shut up!” I shouted. “I would never do that immoral thing, as much as I despise you; I wouldn’t be idiot to ruin my career! Also, you don’t have any right to point your fingers to me, because you are the one who edited the file. You are at fault here!"

Toni groaned as he touched the bruised region on his face and glared at me. He pushed me to the wall.

“What did you say? I worked hard on the article! You are the one who ruined it!”

I fought against his pulling and tried to shook off from him.

“Let go of me, you are going to suffocate me…!”

Marcelo rushed to our side and split us.

“Shut up, you two!” Marcelo reprimanded our behavior. “Whatever happened, both of you are responsible of it. Now, get out of here while I think about what kind of punishment I should give to you. Because yes, what happened is serious and can’t repeat again in the newspaper.”

We left and waited for our editor’s decision in our seats. Luckily, there were a few people that day and nobody asked anything. They just stared at us with curiosity.

The waiting time seemed like an eternity. The minutes didn’t seem to pass. One hour, two hours went by slowly. Then, three hours later, Marcelo called us to his room again.

“Okay, I’ve read the article and the versions over and over and I sent it to other editors and to our editor-in-chief, so we could make the best decision. We all reached an agreement.”

I listened to him quietly, afraid of what kind of punishment I’d receive for something I didn’t do.

“First, Toni, you are suspended for one week. You will have to come to work every day, but you won’t be able to publish any article.”

Toni looked upset, but didn’t complain.

“James, the fact that the version Toni used in the article was the one you supposedly sent to him makes you guilty of writing those stuffs especifically in that part. This act, per se, is subject to a harsher punishment; even so, you claim you have sent another version, that, according to you, is the true one.”

“I swear that the version I sent to Toni was the same one as I saved!”

“The names are the same, but it doesn’t prove anything, does it?”

I lowered my head, as I failed to come up with a better argument. “I…don’t know.”

“Well, I have yet to talk with the editor-in-chief, but for now, you’re going to be suspended until further notice.” Marcelo added. “Oh, and I don’t even need to say that you two are forbidden to work together again.”

I listened to everything incredulous. I didn’t do anything wrong, yet I was on the verge of losing my job because of that douchebag. I couldn’t stop my tears from falling then.

“At least one good news you give me, Marcelo, is that I will no longer work with this…asshole.” I wiped the tears that fell through my face and looked at Toni with disgust. “I swear that I’m innocent and I’ll keep my words until the end.”

“Assholes are people who do something bad and pretend to be innocent.” He provoked me. 

“Shut out, you two! I have nothing else to add. You can go home for today.”

We left the room and headed to our seats in silence. I tidied my desk, took my bag and left without talking to anyone. Toni did the same and went slight later. In that moment, it was an awful fact that we lived in the same building and we were neighbors, because we had to make the same track to home. The air around us became heavy and suffocating. I couldn’t hide my anger and grudge against him; thus, when we arrived to our respective apartments, I ended up saying things I had never said to anyone before.

“What's wrong with you, dude?!" I shouted out. "You wanted to see me broken? You got it. But defeated? Never! I won’t give you this pleasure." I let things go out of my chest, releasing the suffocated feelings that took over me since I’ve found out about his true side. “I hate you. I hate and despise you so much, Kroos!” I looked straight into his eyes. Tears streamed down my face again, but I didn’t back down. I entered my apartment and slammed the door on his face as fast as I could, so I couldn't give him time to reply.

I ran to my room and laid on the bed for hours. When the tears eventually stopped falling, I just stared at the ceiling. My head was filled with thoughts about my future, my career, my family, but didn't focus on anything in particular. I stayed on this chaotic state of mind for who knows how long, until someone rang the doorbell. Then, I stood up and slowly made my way to the entrance, as I didn't feel like receiving any visit.

“Hello, James.” Thomas showed up with an annoying smile on his face. It surprised me that he remembered my name, taking into account we just met once.

“Hey, you’re Toni’s fiancé, right?” I did my best to pretend to be cordial and indifferent.

“The one and only.” He smirked.

“Can I help you?” I said in a rude manner. My eyes were swollen from the crying and my face surely looked awful, but I didn’t care at that point, I was too tired and done with everything.

“I would like to talk you. It won’t take long, I promise.”

I took a deep breath. What the fuck did that man want to talk about?

“Sure. Come in.” My inner side screamed out and punished myself for letting him enter the apartment. My day just got rougher with his visit. I invited him to sit on the sofa, but he refused.

“I will be direct. Please, there is no need to deny.” Thomas paused and crossed his arms. “I know everything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Could you explain better?” I frowned, as I felt my head ache.

“Oh don’t make this face." He said with disdain. "You do know very well what I’m talking about. You and Toni. I’m aware of your affair.” 

“Look, about it…” I tried to explain myself, but he interrupted me.

“Stay away from him.” He glared at me and shouted.

“Hey, you think you have the authority to come to my house and tell me what to do?!” My lips trembled and I clenched my jaw. So far, I tried to keep composure, but his behavior challenged my patience. 

“Well, at least regarding Toni, I have the authority, yes. We know each other for years, our families approve of our relation, and it’s not a fling like you that will break it.”

“I am not a fling!” I hissed, one-step away from losing the remains of calmness. I had to contain my urge to slap my hand into that cynical face.

“Irrelevant people like you, who go out with compromised people, are nothing but a fling.” He spoke in a tone that was uncomfortably calm and cold.

“Listen, I didn’t know anything about his engagement. If I knew, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with him to start with.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not a liar. Not once did he mention anything about a fiancé. Besides, he had never worn a ring or something like that. If anything, it’s your fiancé a liar.” I defended myself, because that was the truth.

“Shut up. Toni would never do it.”

“I used to think so, but he still did it. He fooled both of us.”

“I don’t believe you.” Thomas stood up. “Stay away from Toni, I’m warning you.”

I impatiently ran my hands through my hair. Each sentence that man said upset me more and more. “You don’t have to worry about this. Toni and I are no longer together, we aren’t even friends anymore.”  

At that moment, I had the idea of sending Toni’s stuffs that remained on my apartment back to their owner. I had already collected the objects days ago, but intended to give them back when we talked. As I wasn’t in the mood to have a conversation with the douche anytime soon, I decide to close the cycle between us then. “By the way, before you leave, there’s something I want you to take.” I made him wait and ran to my room, returning shortly after with a cardboard box.

“Here, they belong to your fiancé.” I said, giving the package to the other man. “The path is clean for you, congrats!” I clapped my hands slowly, a sarcastic gesture of mine. “Now, if you excuse me, leave me alone!” I opened the door and ‘gently’ invited him to leave.

“Is that how you want the things to be?”

“Does it interest you? I won’t bother the lovebirds, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

“Okay, then. Goodbye.”

“Bye bitch, go back to the hell, along with that fiancé of yours! Don’t ever come back!” The tiny string of patience faded away. I slammed the door on his face, a gesture I repeated that day. I let out a long breath. It was over, then. My relationship with Toni was over even though we didn’t exactly end it. Perhaps, the official closure was needless, as everything we had, now, looks fake to me, and 'us' never truly existed.

From that day on, I made a resolution to avoid his company and to remind myself of all the bad things he did to me, so I wouldn't forgive him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -In the next chapter, we'll have the last chapter of the backstory (finally~). Part of it will be told from Toni's POV, and part in 3rd person, back to the present-day time. 
> 
> -Comments and kudos are always welcome! :)  
> (At least tell me if there's anything wrong with this backstory...so I'll improve my writing in future chapters :/)


	10. Side story (James/Toni): "Mientes" - part 4 (end)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the backstory of Toni and James, narrated in a 4-chaptered monologue, with alternating point of views. That's the last part, half with Toni's POV, half with present-day time (in 3rd person).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we've come to the end of the backstory. I hope that I have answered the questions thrown in the first chapters of the main story (I'm sure I have thrown new questions though), and that you enjoyed the story! I loved writing in this style and I don't exclude the possibility of trying it with other characters! :)
> 
> [P.S: does anyone miss Morisco btw? :)]

**Toni’s POV**

James’ words from the day we got suspended still resonated in my head. In that moment, I wanted to take him in my arms, to say that I was sorry, and to ask him for forgiveness, but I couldn’t move. Then, he closed the door right after he said all those things. I went to my room and closed myself up for hours. For the first time in years, I wept like a child that day. I even gave Thomas an excuse that I wasn’t feeling well, so he wouldn’t come in.

I knew that I screwed up everything from the beginning and that I lost the person that matters to me the most: James. Now, I had to face reality. I had to give an answer to Thomas by the end of the weekend. I had to do the right thing this time: be honest with him and with my feelings. 

It was impossible for me to stay with Thomas. We wouldn’t be happy together. It didn’t work before when we were in the same country, nor while we were apart, much less during the week. I observed our interaction and I just confirmed he didn’t love me back either, not the way lovers do. He still hadn’t realized that, but I needed to tell him, and I did so on the day he returned to Germany.

“We need to talk, Thomas.”

“Did you make your choice? Are we going back together to Munich?”

I didn't reply. Instead, I asked him another question. “Thomas, please, answer me with sincerity: do you love me?”

“Of course I do, don’t be stupid!” He blurted with indignation.

“Are you sure? Because that wasn’t what I noticed during the week." I reflected. "Everything seemed way too forced between us. I wasn't comfortable to be by your side as a fiancé.”

“Nothing was forced. What are you talking about?!”

I clasped my hands over my head, trying to find the right words to say. I breathed and paused. I opened my mouth.

“Why do you want to marry me so bad? Does it have to do with your parents?”

“I don’t…!” Thomas raised his voice. “It has nothing to do with them!”

“You don’t have to lie, Thomas. I know it has to do with your family. You don’t want to disappoint your parents and such. My family won’t be happy either, not after we insisted so much to get their approval. It’s true that we walked a rough path to reach to our engagement, but it’s okay to make a change and give up. When love ends, the only thing left is to move on.”

“Shit, Toni, I still want us to be together!” He sobbed.

“I’m sorry, dear, but even if you want, I don’t feel the same way towards you. An engagement and a marriage just work when two people are in common accord, and we aren't." I hesitated, but I could no longer go back. "I’m not suited to be your partner for life, Thomas.”

Thomas shook his head in denial. “You’re wrong. It’s all the influence of that little piece of trash, isn’t it?”

I narrowed my eyes as I heard him talk. “Who are you referring to?”

“That fling, co-work and neighbor of yours.”

“James, you mean. He has a name. He’s not a fling or anything close to a trash. No, he has nothing to do with it. In fact, I have realized my feelings before I left Munich. I tried to break our engagement twice, but you insisted and begged for a second chance. I gave it, we tried to work things out during the week, but it didn’t work.”

“Shut up, you are out of your mind.” Thomas stood up and walked outside of the room.

“No, I won’t stop talking. You are going to listen to me now. I want to break off our engagement. I don’t love you the same way you think you love me. Which part you don’t understand?” It was unusual of me to lose patience, but Thomas knew to annoy me.

“You can’t do this to me, Toni, not after all our years of commitment.”

“I can, and I should have done it months ago, before I left Munich. You might get angry at me now, but one day, you’ll thank me for being honest.”

“So, it is over between us.” He looked at intimidatingly.

“I’m afraid so. However, we can still be friends.”

“I don’t think we can ever be friends again!” He shouted and slammed the door of my room, making a crackling noise.

I gave him time to pack his luggage and called a taxi to take him to the airport. Then, I sat on the sofa and waited for him, because I hadn't finished talking.

“You said that after a week, if things didn’t work well, that we could part ways with no hard feelings.”

“Yeah, I said that indeed, but it’s easier said than done. I’m upset, Toni."

The intercom interrupted our talk I ran to the kitchen to get the call. 

"I must confess that it's impossible for me not to have hard feelings.” Thomas continued. "Is the taxi here?"

I nodded and added. “I’m sure that you will move on from me, from us. One day, you’ll truly fall in love and find the right person for you.”

“Bullshit! You just want to get rid of me.” Thomas accused, while he took his luggage outside of my apartment.

“Goodbye, Thomas. Send my greetings to your parents and…please, don’t be mad at me.”

“Someday, who knows, I will understand you.”

I felt like a weight lifted away from my shoulders after Thomas left my apartment. I felt bad for him, of course, but it was unavoidable. On the other hand, I was officially single then, officially free to be with the person of my life. James was the only one I thought about at that moment.

I presumed that James would return one week later after my suspension. However, he hadn't come back. Rumors sprout in the newspaper that he was going to be fired. I was freaking out inside on thinking about that possibility, that he would lose his job because of me. I had to do something, share my problems with someone. Luckily, Jesé and Luka were back to the newspaper from vacations, so I could talk to them. I explained briefly the facts that led to my situation and James’, and they offered their support.

The three of us went to Marcelo’s room and used our best arguments to convince our editor to give James another chance.

“You are just wasting your times, kids. Even if I want, I cannot do anything. The decision regarding James is up to the editor-in-chief, not me.” Marcelo shrunk his shoulders.

“What he wrote was this serious?” Jesé asked, clueless to the situation.

“Yes, Jesé, it was. He blackmailed people, one of them the editor-in-chief himself.”

“How come? I mean, James has always been so responsible…”

“You see, how we are mistaken by appearance.” Marcelo commented. “Even so, I don't fully believe our Colombian man did that and I appreciate his effort. I truly hope the boss forgives him.”

“Let’s keep our fingers crossed, then.” Luka suggested.

In fact, it took two additional weeks for his comeback. Apparently, the newspaper received tons of messages from readers asking for the return of ‘KR’’s articles. The editor-in-chief, therefore, found it more convenient to give James another chance, thanks to his talent in writing. Some bad mouths, however, commented that the boss was afraid that James could own confidential information and spread outside in case he got fired.

After James’ return, I tried to make amends, but he no longer talked to me. He returned to his usual cheerful self to everyone around, except for me. When we met, his smile disappeared right away. When we were on the same place, for instance, when he and I were with Jesé, Luka and the boys from the ‘R-Up! Magazine’, my former partner either ignored me or became mischievous. It took months for us to talk again on civil terms, without me confronting him and him pretending not to hear me.

I’m sure of one thing though. James didn’t write that part of the article. He had no advance knowledge on informatics; therefore, he couldn’t get any confidential information to blackmail anyone. Moreover, that style of writing has nothing to do with him. I have decided that I'm going to prove his innocence, as well as mine. Even if months have passed, I still don't accept the way things happened. I'll definitely solve the mistery surrounding that article. 

* * *

**Present-day time**

After 10 minutes of walking, Toni and James made it to Toni’s apartment. The track was short, but the impression was the time didn’t seem to pass thanks to the awkwardness in the air. It translated in their body language, as both men had their back stiffen, did their track silently and avoided each other’s eyes until they got to the building. Toni was about to about to open the door when James remembered to get his copy of the fatidic text saved in a pen-drive and made the German reporter wait.

“With the two files it’ll be easier to compare the versions and make things clear for good.” James returned a few minutes later with the object in his hands, his breath quickened by the run.  

“Good idea, although there’s no need for that.” Toni let James enter first, then joined the co-worker and closed the door behind him.

The Colombian turned behind to look at him and folded his arms. “Of course it’s necessary. I want to prove that I wasn’t guilty.”

Toni just sighed. Avoiding James’ glance, he sat on the sofa and slumped his shoulders, turning the laptop that rested on the small table in front of it. “You don’t have to…really. It was my fault all around.”

James raised his eyebrows at the other man’s confession. “So, you’ll finally admit that you did that?”

“Yes, I admit that I made a mistake, but not in the way you might suppose.” Toni still avoided looking at James. “I didn’t do that on purpose.”

“Why did you do that, then? Why did you let the majority of the blame fall into me?” James sat up on the corner of the sofa. He demanded for an explanation on his new-old-work partner.

Toni took some time to answer. He searched for the best words to explain himself, so he wouldn’t ruin even more his relationship with James. “I was too confused at the time. Everything that happened the night before that day still seems blurry to me. I was here, working on the article as usual; however, I don’t know what happened later on, I simply fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already morning and I didn’t have time to check the texts. I really just copied and pasted everything into a single file.”

James tilted his head as he listened to the other man’s speech.

“Oh so, contrary to what you said that day, you didn’t stay up late working, but you slept in the meantime.” The Colombian concluded and had to contain his anger towards him. “How the hell you didn’t tell it to the boss that day?”

“It wouldn’t change anything, even if I told him, James. Something happened with the texts while I was unconscious.” The German reporter justified. “Besides, because of everything I did to you, I was certain you had sent a different version of your part on purpose. I just saw your fault, but I ignored my own parcel of responsibility.”

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I contacted you the whole week, but you barely answered me. Damn it, Toni, you know it well that I’m not capable of such an act. I might have been mad at you back then, but I have put everything behind for our work.”

Toni lowered his chin. It was difficult to take the weighing guilty in his consciousness. “I know, I admit now that I have been negligent; nonetheless, back then, I was too ashamed to take the responsibility.”

“And because of you, I almost lost my job.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay now. Fortunately, I’m still in the newspaper and that’s what matters.” James shrugged. He remembered as if it happened yesterday: the day Marcelo called him and said the boss gave him another chance. He still thought he was lucky to stay on the job despite those accusations. 

Back to the present, he looked at the miserable man beside him and wondered about what led to his interest in investigating it.

“What makes me question, Toni…what made you change your mind, after all these months?”

“As you have your file in hands, could you lend me your pen-drive?” Toni didn't answer right away.

James assented and gave it to the other man, who plugged the small object into the laptop and opened the archive.

“I…felt guilty. For all the shit, from hiding the truth.” He looked right into James’ eyes. “Then, I read this article over and over and I concluded you really didn’t do it, as much as I didn’t sabotage anything.”

James wanted to ask 'which truth?', but gave up. He just wanted to forget about the other lies unrelated to work. The lies related to their romance should be in the past, after all. The Colombian just stared silently into the other man’s eyes and felt his heart crush at the regret and guilty reflected by them. Toni was torn, as much as him.

The two of them read and compared the two versions over and over, but didn't make any advance.

“There is obviously something wrong with this." James noticed. He just couldn't tell the culprit. "Can’t you really remember anything different that happened that night?”

“I can’t!" Toni rubbed his forehead. "Aside from the fact that I refused to go out with Thomas…”

James widened his eyes at the German reporter. He has just found out a new information.

“Of course, that guy was there at that time.” Hearing that name brought bad memories to James. “He must have done something!”

Toni rolled his eyes. “You too? Jesé also said that, but you guys don’t know Thomas. He’s incapable of doing anything shallow like that.”

“Is that so?” James snorted and tapped his feet. The Colombian stared inquiringly at Toni. “Did he tell you that he came to my house the same day we were suspended? That he told me to stay away from you?”

“No, he didn’t tell me that.” Toni frowned, refusing to believe in James’ words. “He told me that he found a box with my belongings in front of my apartment. Those were stuffs that I left in your place, so I just concluded you threw them away.”

“You see now, what a saint your…”James stammered. It was still had to swallow that word, even after so long. “…fiancé is!”

“Ex-fiancé.” Toni corrected the other man. “We broke up a while ago.”

James raised his eyebrows in surprise. In his mind, he had already formed an image of the two men in their marriage day, with Toni returning to Germany for their honeymoon, and he, James, crying in despair in a bar. Nevertheless, the information the German reporter gave deconstructed the scenery his imagination created, messing him up. He fought against his racing heartbeats, the sensation of butterflies in his stomach. The fact Toni had broken up meant nothing to him, as he and Toni weren’t made to be a thing, not before, nor then.

“Anyway, your relationship status doesn’t concern me.” He cleared his throat. “Now that you reminded me that that individual was with you, we should ask him for an explanation.” James started connecting the dots. Thomas might have sought revenge on their work, obviously. But how did he do everything? He might have planned out beforehand.

Toni refused to believe in that hypothesis until further proofs; he wouldn’t handle such a betrayal. “Even if he lied to me about the visit to your apartment, we don’t have any proof that he might be involved in the case, or that he could sabotage our article.”

James sighed. “Let’s suppose he has nothing to do with the case. He was in your apartment that day. He could at least give an information on what happened while you slept, then.”

Toni agreed with him. If anything, Thomas would be the only one who could made things clear.

“Okay, I’ll contact him later. Not now though. He might be working somewhere and probably won’t get any call.”

“Fine, just don’t take too long to call him. I’m eager to get to know what truly happened.” James warned. His worried expression, then, converted in a small grin. “But thanks anyway. For willing to solve this.”

“Don’t worry. I also want to know about it.”

The wave in the room became heavier again, as the two barely interacted. Toni kept his eyes on the laptop screen, while James checked his phone. Aware of the discomfort, James took his bag and stood up.

“It’s getting late. I think it’s better if I go home.” The Colombian walked to the door.

“Oh, okay.” Toni agreed and was about to eject the pen-drive from the laptop, but he took notice of something. “Wait, James.”

“What?” James turned back at Toni’s words.

“The date and hour of the file modification. They are different from the one you supposedly sent to me.”

“Well, they shouldn’t be, because they are the same files. Doesn’t it prove that someone has edited after I sent though?”

“Hm...not really.” After all, James still could have edited the file before sending. Unless…"Wait! You should have a copy of the e-mail and the time it has been sent." 

“I have, yes. I can prove it. Just wait a bit.” James took his phone and opened his email. He tapped the ‘sent’ section and scrolled through the screen. There were copies of e-mails from every date, except from the one with that file. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

“It’s not here. I can’t find it.” He shook his head and showed the screen to Toni.

“Weird. It should be here, every email sent has a copy.”

James trembled. Has his account been invaded? If so, how could that be possible and who would do that?

“Fuck. What can we do now?”

“Sincerely? Nothing. We are back to zero.” Toni replied and ejected the pen-drive. “Here, don’t forget it.”

“Yeah, my mind is forgetful sometimes.” James tapped on his forehead and accepted the object. 

“James, wait again, please!” Toni made the Colombian stand still on the door entrance and approached him. “About our relationship from before, we never talked about it…”

James’ composure faded away as Toni was about to mention their past. He didn’t want to think nor talk about it, because remembering it only brought suffer. Why reminiscing about something that should have never happened? He wondered.

“If it’s about partnership, forget about what I said before. I don’t have any problem on working with you again, as long as you are honest.”

“I promise to stay true to my words this time.” Toni lifted his head and looked at James. “Forget about what I said too, that I was fine with working by myself. I’m delighted to have a second chance to work with you."

“It’s good to know about this. That’s the first step for our co-work success.” A small grin formed on James lips. He turned his back, and Toni opened the door.

“See you tomorrow!” James turned back and waved. The smile on his face widened and formed small crinkles around his eyes.  

“See you!” Toni waved back and placed his hand on his chest. The brightness in James' eyes just then gave him some hope.

Toni closed the door to the apartment with a feeling of relief and pain simultaneously. Relief because in professional terms, they have settled themselves again, and their collaboration would no longer be a problem. However, it devastated him that James clearly refused to talk about their personal relationship, about what they had before. Perhaps, the other reporter would never forgive him for what he did, for the lies he told, the facts he omitted. He just hoped it wouldn't affect their partnership during their trip.

He searched for Thomas' number on his phone and called him. Even if his ex didn't get the call, he would leave a voice message. He frowned though, as the voice on the other line said that number didn't exist. He tried again, but the same error message repeated. He sighed. Apparently, Thomas changed is phone number and hasn't told him. 

"Would you really do that, Thomas? After all the years of friendship, would you really be that evil?" Toni talked to himself, as he realized the other face of his ex. There was another fact he hasn't told James, a fact he hadn't remembered until then. Thomas had basic knowledge of hacking. Not that it meant anything, but it could be a hint. If he did that, though, that would make him not a hacker, but a cracker, a criminal, and he would have to pay for that. That was an unrealistic hypothesis at first sight, but made sense if looked from a global perspective, especially now that he was out of reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -In the next chapter, the main story is back! :)
> 
> -Comments and kudos are very welcome!


	11. Love and its dilemmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the comeback of the main story. In this chapter:
> 
> -Álvaro's mother meets Álvaro and Isco  
> -Isco and James talk about their love issues  
> -Someone from Isco's past calls him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Sorry for the update delay. Writing block and plot development issues have beaten me for the past few weeks. Idk what will be of this story anymore... -.-
> 
> -In the latest chapter of the main story (ch.6), Álvaro and Isco went to the library, rented a bunch of books that turned too heavy to carry and waited for Álvaro's mother ride. This one begins shortly after that scene.

"Is Álvaro persuading you to become a bookworm like him?", Álvaro's mother asked Isco, while she opened the trunk.

Isco placed the package on the compartment with a shy smile on his face. In general, he succeeded at being talkative with new people, but shyness shut him off, as he picked carefully his words to make a positive first impression. 

"Not really. I'm already a fan of books; therefore, it's already a pleasure for me to come to the library!"

Álvaro added his package right after and shook his head. "Mom, I don't want to convince anyone to become a bookworm. I'm just helping Isco with some recommendations."

"Oh, so your name is Isco." The lady let out a wide grin. "You must be the new friend Álvaro talked about this morning!"

"Mom!” The booklover's cheeks flushed. 

Isco eyes shone, as he heard those words and saw the taller man's reaction. Did it mean he has also been on the other man's thoughts? What did he talk about him? Good things or bad things? 

"Actually, my name is Francisco, but everyone calls me 'Isco', and I just got used to it." The gamer shrugged. 

"Have I said anything wrong, Álvi? It has been so long since I last saw you smile so bright while you talked." She commented, as she made a left turn. "Now that I see you together, I'm sure a great friendship is blossoming between you!"

The two men blushed hard to the comment. Álvaro's mother noticed something different between them as they talked. It was understandable Isco’s shyness, as they have just met. Álvaro, on the other hand, usually blushed in reaction to her straightforward way of talking around his friends, yet she hasn’t said anything embarrassing. She just commented that her son smiled. Was there anything wrong with that?

"Yeah, mom, our meeting is so recent, but it's as if we had always known each other." Álvaro beamed. His eyes focused on Isco. 

"We have a lot in common." Isco added, responding to the other reporter's gaze. 

"Delightful. It's rare to meet people with similar views on life, but it’s a blessing when we find them!" She observed the two men's gaze towards each other with an amusing smile.

The woman threw more questions to the Málaga boy. She asked about his job at RE, his hometown, his life in Madrid, his hobbies. Isco furrowed his brows as the questions succeed. The only reasonable explanation the shorter man found for such interest was that Álvaro's mother questioned every new friend of her son, as a precaution about his companies. 

"Don't you feel lonely here, in Madrid? Apart from your family and such?"

"In the beginning, I was lonely, yes, but I already got used to the routine. Of course I miss my friends…” Isco hesitated, but added. “…and my family too, but I keep in touch with them." Isco slumped his shoulders. That was a lie, but he has already gotten used to it. Nobody from Madrid knew about his past and wouldn't know. 

"Oh, I see. You have no idea on what it is like to have your children live in another country. I worry with this boy every single day."

"Mom, I'm no longer a kid." Álvaro rolled his eyes.

"I know, sweet. Even if you grow old, though, you'll always be my loved child."

“Even though we grow up, we never stop being our parents' kids, right?” Isco smiled. "But it's okay. After all, the parents' love is one of the most precious things one gets in life."

Álvaro would say Isco was a mature man for saying that inspiring line, but there was a sadness in the gamer's smile and voice that opposed to those words and didn't make sense.

“Although, in your case, Álvaro, you are a child with an old man vibe, so it's kinda weird.” The change in the tone in Isco's voice broke the mood.

Álvaro’s mother snorted. She agreed that in general, her son's actions contrasted with his age and appearance, but in her opinion, it was his charming point.

“What did you say? I’m not an old man!” Álvaro raised his eyebrows at the the short man, before his expression softened. “But you’re right, Isco…I appreciate my mother’s care.” He squeezed her shoulders.

Isco watched the scene and envied that family interaction. Isco’s mother was no way similar to Álvaro’s, much on the contrary. She never really cared about him, except for his grades and reputation as a student and a pro gamer. Moreover, they had a restrained relationship since he had chosen journalism as a career.

Talk came and went by, and they arrived at the building. Álvaro’s mother parked the car.

"Hey, Isco. Feel welcome to come by our house anytime. The more the company, the merrier!"

"Thanks, Mrs. Morata!" He left the car and waved to her. 

"You're welcome!" The woman waved back and looked at her son. “Come on, Álvi, help your friend with the books!”

Álvaro nodded and followed Isco, opening the trunk and taking Isco's book package. He offered to help carrying it, but the shorter man gently refused. 

"See you then, Isco." Álvaro wanted to hug Isco tight, but just raised his hand, so the other man gave him a handshake. "Let me know which book you pick to read first, so we can follow it together." He winked and patted on the gamer's shoulder.

"Okay, Álvaro, we'll keep in contact." Isco grinned brightly.

* * *

Isco stood up at the door of his apartment, strecthed his arms and searched for the keys. When he found them on his pocket, the door to the second apartment on his left opened and he spotted James. The newspaper reporter closed the apartment door and walked to the stairs.

"Hey, James!" Isco called out. "Going out now?" 

"Hi, Isco!" The Colombian waved. "Yeah, I need to take some air, jog a bit…"

Isco observed James’ shoulders shrunk and a miserable expression formed on his face. He presumed from the man's countenance that the former couple's conversation didn't succeed again. The game magazine reporter opened the door, pushed the package of books to a corner in the entrance and turned back to talk to James.

"Why don't you come in and we chat a bit?" Isco made a sign indicating him to approach. "Just don't mind the mess! Work has been so chaotic lately that I didn't have time to clean."

James nodded and followed Isco.

"Nah, relax, Isco. I'm already used to your place's 'messy order'." James shrugged.

"I'm gonna prepare some tea for us.” Isco picked an electric kettle. “Meanwhile, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks, Isco." James smiled faintly.

"But tell me, how was the talk with Toni?" Isco filled the electric kettle with water, turned it on and picked two cups and a bag of tea.

"Well, everything went fine, at least regarding work..." The Colombian talked slowly.

"That’s an advance.” The shorter man raised his eyebrows. “But this gloomy face of yours tells otherwise."

James sighed and covered his face. "Isco, the truth is...I have put up a cool face in front of Toni and it looked as if I was okay with our situation, but inside, I’m still as affected as ever by his presence.”

Isco didn't know what to say to James. He still couldn’t understand well the way love worked, nor the way to deal with it. If he compared his love experience with a level game, he would be a mere beginner at this field. He wish he could be wise enough to give an effective love advice, but he wasn’t; therefore, he followed his logical sense.

“If he is damaging to you, you have to move on from him.”

“It is easier said than done, Isco, but you are right. We shouldn’t have gotten involved since the beginning.” James rubbed his forehead and let out a deep breath. “Still, how can I move on? If I see him every day, be at work, be on the way home? If we are about to go on the same trip and co-work again? Each time I’m close to him, it’s like I forget about everything else. I simply long to be in his arms again, you know?”

“I know it.” Isco assented his head. Until the week before, he wouldn’t understand James’ words, but he was turning into more and more a romantic. He got perfectly that feeling because he felt the same way when he was in Álvaro’s arms the day he got rescued. He longed to be in his arms once more and to feel his warmth, his scent.

“It’s harder for me to hide this feeling now, because Toni told me he has broken off his engagement with that guy.”

Isco didn’t look any surprised.

“Yeah, he told us all...”

James's jaw dropped off. “What? How come I didn’t know?” 

“Well, you never wanted to listen when we tried to get you two to make amends.” 

The newspaper reporter fixed his eyes to the ground and slumped his shoulders as memories of his stubborn actions towards the German co-worker hit him.

“I have been so annoying lately, haven’t I?” 

“A bit, James, but it was reasonable. You were hurt, and we didn’t want to force anything between you two.” The gamer shrunk his shoulders. “I hope you’re not mad at us.”

“I’m not. Even if you told me, I don't think we would be together again.” James reflected.

“How did you feel when he told you about his break up though?” The question escaped from Isco's mouth and the gamer wondered if he was being too nosy.

The newspaper reporter confronted his feelings and bowed his head as they diverged from his reason.

“Honestly, I was so happy, Isco." James' cheeks reddened as he spoke." I wanted to wrap my arms around Toni and kiss him fully on his lips. It would have been an humilliation if I had surrounded myself to him again."

Isco chuckled as he listened to the other man’s confession.

“Forget about what I just said about you having to move on from Toni, James. My friend, you’re still so much in love with him!” Isco smiled. “You are each other's special ones, aren't you?”

The Colombian man snorted.

“Special one? What are you talking about?”

The shorter man buried his face on his hands.

“Have you never heard of that thing about two people who understand each other better than anyone?” He spoke with narrowed eyes, his expression too serious for the topic.

James giggled at Isco’s words. The idea was too beautiful, too perfect to be real. What made the situation more amusing was to hear it from the gamer’s mouth, the rational guy who always stated that everything in life was a game.

“That’s for romantics. I am a practical person.” James shrugged after he stopped laughing. Deep inside, though, those words touched his inner side. Maybe the ‘James from before’ would blindly believe Toni was his special one. Their understanding used to be unique; he could assure the German would always be there for him and vice-versa. Nowadays, he no longer believed that fairytale. “Toni couldn’t be my special one anyway. I mean, we didn’t understand each other in the end. I should just forget about him.”

“I don’t get it. Why do you have to forget him if you love him? Shouldn’t love make you happy?” Isco asked confused. Love was a complicated matter and made less and less sense to him.

The newspaper reporter looked at Isco as if the man next to him was a teenager and shook his head lightly. He paused and searched for the best words that conveyed his feelings.

“It’s so difficult to explain. Yes, love should make me happy, and it really did for a while. However, when I found out the one I loved the most betrayed me, that feeling brought me suffer. Thus, I would rather forget I fell in love with him, you see?” James stated.

“Ugh, love is too complicated!” Isco messed his hair with his hands. Álvaro filled every space of his thoughts, and he couldn't help but wonder if the booklover thought of him as well in that moment or if there was a chance that they had mutual feelings.

James narrowed his eyes. There was a change in Isco’s behavior contrasting to his usually down-to-earth and cool view on life. For starters, as much as he the game reporter was a helpful friend, he would let that topic for other people. Besides, there was also a new glam in the gamer’s eyes mixed with confusion and trouble when he talked about that ‘special one’ thing. Then, that private appointment in the last hour sounded weirdly suspicious. All those hints indicated one thing: Isco had found someone in the past days and hid the information.

“I have been so selfish lately, Isco, that I haven’t even asked about you. How are you doing these days?” James asked, hoping to hear some breaking news.

The game magazine reporter tilted his head as the conversation focus turned to him.

“Me? I’m doing well, as usual.”

“Has anything different happened? Some big change in the scenery?”

“No, I guess?” Isco frowned. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” He studied Isco’s face. “How could I put this…You look different.”

“Elaborate, please.”

“Somehow, you have matured more these days, in the way you listen and talk.”

“Haha, it’s your impression, really.” Isco looked away. His romantic side, whose existence has been unknown until a few days ago, couldn’t be that obvious.

James raised an eyebrow.

“By any chance, does it have to do with your appointment earlier on?”

“What? No, not at all! I just went to the library…” The gamer denied; however, his burning face denounced it.

James let out a wide smile, as he had the confirmation. A miracle was about to happen in Madrid: Isco was in love with someone!

“Who is the person? A man or a woman? Someone I know?” James wanted to get all the informations on the shorter man's love interest. In that moment, Isco thought the Colombian looked like some of his annoying relatives who appreciated love gossips. 

“N-nobody! I-I don’t have anyone.” Isco stammered.

“Okay, Isco, you don’t want to talk.” James’ voice pitched out and he looked down. “To think I was here, opening my heart to you.”

Isco hesitated, but eventually decided to tell him everything. It would be pointless to hide after all.

“Fine, James." The gamer sighed. "Remember that guy we met at the restaurant...Álvaro?”

“Oh, Dani’s and Jesé’s friend.” James remembered briefly the man's face from the awkward dinner. "He seemed a bit reserved, but a nice guy."

Isco shared with James the recent events, the meetings by chance and their ‘date’ at the library just then. He admitted to the Colombian he tried to fight those feelings for Álvaro, but eventually gave in, with no way back to his ‘everything-is-a-game’ mindset.

“Aww, how cute.” James patted on Isco’s head. “You love him!”

“I’m not sure if I am in that stage yet, but I do like him. It is unfortunate though, to be interested in someone who doesn’t live in the same town. He will return to Italy soon, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Simply. Invite him for a date, confess your feelings and listen to his answer." The Colombian said bluntly. "Oh, and make sure he doesn’t have an engagement.”

Isco rolled his eyes. “Álvaro is not Toni, James. Besides, I already asked him if he was in a relationship. As a friend, not love interest. He ended a long-distance relationship last year and has been single since then. Why would he lie to me? He has no idea I like him that way.”

“I’m just warning so you don’t get hurt like I did.” James had the same stabbing sensation whenever he recalled the moment he found out about Toni's engagement.

“I know, James, but don’t worry. I can take care of myself. Besides, Álvaro and I are just friends, there little to no possibilities that we could be a thing.”

“Don’t jump into conclusions before you confess.” James pointed to Isco. “Trust me, I can tell by experience. Save the freak out moment to later, after you listen to his answer.”

“What if he doesn’t love me back?” The shorter man feared love rejection for the first time in his life.

“Well, the heartbreak will hurt in the beginning, but you will move on.”

“Yeah, I’ll move on, just like you are doing…” The sarcasm was something Isco tried to manage since he became a journalist, but once in a while, he couldn't control his words, regretting them as soon as they left his mouth.

“Well, I’m not an example to follow.” James cleared his throat. “Anyway, I think it’s better if I jog now, before it gets too late.”

“Are you sure you still wanna leave at this time?” Isco checked the clock time. It was past 8pm.

“I need to clear my thoughts, Isco. Our talk helped a lot, but exercising helps me organize my inner side. It’s just around this quarter and I’ll be back shortly after!”

“Take care, then.” The gamer wished, still guilty for throwing into the other man's face the difficult to overcome his heartbreak. "And sorry for what I have said just now."

“Don't worry about this. Afterwards, you just said the truth.”

"No, I'm stupid for seeing the situation from my point of view." Indeed, Isco had no idea of the suffer of a love heartbreak, but he had experienced other types of heartbreak his whole life; therefore, he knew the pain was present. "Just take your time to heal, James."

James hugged Isco tight. "Thank you so much, Isco. I truly hope that everything goes well between you and Álvaro!"

"Thanks. Keep your fingers crossed, then!"

Isco waved to James and reflected upon his advice on Álvaro. Perhaps, he should really talk with him and make his confession without any fear of a possible heartbreak. He should give it a chance; after all, he had nothing to lose.

The game reporter stretched out his arms after taking the cups to the kitchen sink and washing them. He had already had a snack on the café; therefore, a noodle would be enough for dinner. All he wanted was to eat something, take a bath and start reading one of the books. The phone rang out loud while he poked around the kitchen cabinet. He read the name on the screen and frowned. An old acquaintance of him called.

“Hey, Juanmi. It has been a while! What is up?” Isco answered. “Oh, so you are in Madrid for the fair? You want to meet somewhere tomorrow. Okay, but I’m not sure if I will be free. We'll talk tomorrow, okay? See ya!”

Isco hung up. Juanmi was one of his friends from Málaga, the most adventurous of their group. He was also the one who taught Isco to view love affairs as 'games'. Isco remembered with shame the nights they spent on clubs and parties. That was a phase he wanted to delete from his life if he could, a time when he played with people's feelings without consideration-that was one of the game's rules. Idiocy and nastiness at their limits, he admitted now. The reporter sighed hard when the idea of going to those nights came up to his mind. 

Isco's phone buzzed with a new message and dragged him back from his divagations. This time, the name on the screen brought him a smile. 

_‘hey, I’m sorry about my mom’s bluntness today. She’s just like that with every1’_

_‘no problem. I didn’t mind at all, she seems to be a kind mother'_

_‘she has a big heart and I love her, but sometimes she says embarrassing stuffs'_

_‘such as about her saying that you spoke about me?'_

_‘hope you didn’t blackmail me haha'_

_‘I didn’t, Isco, I swear'_

_‘y did you blush then?_

_‘idk, I just know u also blushed huh'_

_‘don’t deviate from my question’_

No immediate reply. Somehow, Isco could depict Álvaro on the other side with a troubled expression, typing and deleting the message several times.

_‘u make me blush hard I can’t explain.'_

_‘I say the same, we r just 2 hopeless shy guys *smiling face with open mouth*'_

_‘we should make a combo *smiling face with sunglasses* *grinning face*'_

The game reporter chuckled at the other man's suggestion.

_‘what's the name of our combo tho, 'Alvisco'? *face with tears of joy*'_

_‘(do u mind if I call u alvi)’_

_‘I don’t mind at all, Isco, only if u stop calling me an old man *face with stuck-out tongue* ’_

_‘but u’r and old man in disguise *winking face*’_

_'*unamused face*'_

_‘okay, Alvi, I wont call u an old man *smiling face with halo*'_

_‘tks Isco *thumbs up*'_

_'*kissing face with smiling eyes*'_

_‘I’d love to meet u again tomorrow, Alvi. *beating heart*’_

_‘me too, Isco. *beating heart* Pls call me when u’r free'_

_‘okay, Alvi~ *winking face* '_

_'*face throwing a kiss* *revolving hearts* *winking face*'_

_'*smiling face with heart-shapped eyes* *revolving hearts* *kissing face with closed eyes*'_

Isco threw back his head and grinned at the change in their messages, beginning with words and ending with cheesy emojis. Calling Álvaro "Álvi” was much better; it brought them closer. 

* * *

The jogging was just an excuse James gave to be alone with his thoughts, as the talk with Isco messed even more with his mind. It hurt to think that once, he was certain to have found in Toni the special person, only to discover later on to be wrong, as the German ditched on him. The 'special one' story was nothing but a bullshit, and that person couldn’t be real. Besides, he knew that sooner or later he had to overcome that heartbreak, for he could be fully happy again. The Colombian ran with a distracted mind, unaware that he had already passed the quarter of the dormitory building. Clueless of his surroundings, he didn’t notice a transient passing by; thus, he couldn’t prevent the collision with the other person. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -In the final part, my intention was to add the emojis, but the site had eaten half of the text. T_T
> 
> -Comments and kudos are welcome! :)


	12. Resemblance/Hunches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James bumps into a man who reminds him of someone he has met before; Álvaro and Nacho arrange a meeting of friends for the next day on Álvaro's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you don't get mad at me after you read this chapter. :/

“Ouch,” James groaned after losing his balance and rubbed his forehead. The shock brought the Colombian’s attention back to the surroundings. In front of him, there was a man cursing words, with his body slightly reclined and his hands on his shoulder, folders and papers spreaded all over the place. The Colombian widened his eyes and rushed to his side. “Oh man, I’m sorry!”

The other man didn't look at him; instead, he crouched to collect his belongings from the ground.

“You should pay more attention while you run,” he said, arranging the set of papers into the folders and placing them into the bag. “It’s dangerous, you know. You could have bumped into a bike or a car.”

“I’m really sorry, I have been so distracted...” James bended over to help the man with picking the objects. When they finished, he placed his hand on the man’s arm. “Are you okay?”

The touch made their eyes meet for the first time. James’ jaw almost dropped when he spotted the pair of blue eyes on the man's face looking at his. Those bright blue eyes which somehow were familiar...

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Still holding his gaze, the man slanted his head, a glam of realization spanning his eyes; then, he looked away. “You should worry more about yourself though.”

James was aware that he was at fault there; he admitted that his head has been a mess the whole day and that he couldn’t focus on anything. Still, the transient’s manners, telling him what to do, were quite annoying in the Colombian’s opinion.

“Okay, thanks.” He drifted away and nodded quickly; it wasn’t worth arguing with a stranger. “I will be more careful next time.” He stretched his arms and legs to resume the jog.

“I really mean that, and I’d say more,” the man stood up, and the Colombian realized he was over five inches taller than himself. “I wouldn’t run if I were in your condition.”

The Colombian stopped the stretching and rolled his eyes. “You act so full of yourself,” the Real Diario reporter stated, folding his arms around his chest and tapping his feet. “You don’t even know me.”

The other man raised his eyebrows to the comment, stroked his chin and analyzed James’ face. “Are you sure we haven’t met before? Your face looks surprisingly familiar to me.” 

They stared into each other. James also had the same impression, yet he couldn’t recall the place nor the moment of their meeting. He closed his eyes briefly and searched for some insight, but nothing came into mind other than the color of the other man’s eyes.

“I don’t think so. You probably mistook me for someone else.” James shrugged. He couldn’t base on knowing someone’s identity with a single feature, as there were thousands of men with blue eyes around the world. Perhaps, it was just someone with similar eyes he came across once, in a random trip, in a covering. He shouldn't make a fuzz over it. 

“Hmm...No, I’m sure we have met before, but where?” The man insisted.

James looked away and lifted his eyebrows. He didn't know either, and the man's insistence didn't help remembering. More than that, he wanted to avoid talking too much with the stranger; after all, he could be a freak or a con man.

“Nowhere, since I am sure you are wrong,” James said hastily and checked the time on his watch. “Well, since you are okay, I will resume my track.”

“Will you really run?” The stranger leaned forward.

“Listen.” The Colombian pulled his hands to the forehead, stared into a blank space and huffed, before turning to him with overwhelming eyes. “Why don’t you take care of your life?”

“I just want to help. Trust me, I have witnessed accidents around the street that happened by distraction,” the transient spoke with a slow tone, lifting his head. “Anyway, we shouldn’t be arguing. It’s getting late and I need to get the hell out of here, as I have work tomorrow.”

“Good. I also have to go. This talk is so pointless,” James said with a grimace. “It was nice to meet you!” He saluted with a bright smile, inside hoping, though, that their paths didn’t cross again.

“Wait,” the transient paused, but called out. “Could you please give me some information? I’ve been wandering around for a while and I have no clue on how to reach this address here.” he showed the map on his phone screen and scratched his head. “It seems the GPS gave me the wrong directions.”

James looked from the phone screen to the stranger and smirked. That man was not all confident as he showed to be. “The indication on the map is not wrong, but there is an easier route that allows you to reach your address in less time. 10 minutes of walk sharp.”

The Colombian indicated the directions to the man, but the stranger tilted his head.

“Sorry, I don’t know these streets you are talking about. I don’t live in Madrid, you see? Whenever I come here, I go to places by taxi or friends give me a ride, but today I had this silly idea of going home by walking.”

“It’s not a silly idea. Walking is good, healthy and a way of saving money.” 

The man snorted. "Well, if you know your whereabouts, this logic works; otherwise, it's no good, because you might save money, but waste time."

“Well, my opinion doesn’t matter anyway,” James’ cheek blushed lightly at the man's statement and the Colombian preferred not to argue over the benefits of walking, focusing back on the main topic. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen?” The stranger assented, took a sheet from his notebook and picked a pen from of his case.

James scribbled a map, wrote something in bullet points and repeated the directions. “Did you get it now?” 

The man nodded, but his face still displayed a glimpse of confusion. “I think I’ll be able to reach my aunt’s house, then. Sorry for bothering you.”

A grin formed on James' lips. Perhaps, the wanderer wasn’t a bad person as he supposed at first; at least the guy had family in the city. “No problem, I hope you get to the address.” He extended his hands to greet.

“With your instructions, I’m sure I will.” The stranger shook the Colombian’s hands and gazed at him once more. “Thanks, by the way!”

The handshake took longer than both men expected. That pair of blue eyes caught James’ attention for the second time, and the same sense of familiarity hit him. He let go of the transient's hands and nodded briefly with an awkward smile. “You are welcome. See you around!”

The stranger walked ahead, but turned back and waved.

“It was very nice to meet you too! And remember to pay attention to your whereabouts on your way back home,” he said aloud and hastened, turning to another street and going out of sight.

The Colombian frowned. Of course, he would pay attention, he wasn’t that stupid. Still, he grinned brightly for being helpful to that familiar man.

“Focus, James,” he told himself, shook his head and took a mental note to stop overthinking at least until he arrived to the dormitory building.

As soon as he made home, though, he had a realization. The stranger had the same pair of blue eyes as the one from the man at the bar he has met months ago, in that drowning night. They were alike not only in the color, but also in the intensity… The Colombian shook his head. He restated that there were thousands of men with the same features in the world; it would be too much of a coincidence that they randomly bumped into each other on the street.

Even so, the way he talked, seeing through James, giving him blunt advice, was so similar that there couldn’t be another person with the same characteristic. Unless they were twins. He slapped his forehead. That was less likely to happen. Not to mention that the other man also had the same impression of meeting him; therefore, chances pointed that it had to be him.

'Stupid me,' James chewed his lips. He was so overwhelmed at the lost man’s manners that the hypothesis of him being the same man from the bar hasn’t crossed his mind. If he had remembered, at least he should have asked the transient about the bar or about any fact he and that blue-eyed guy shared back then.

If he turned out to be the same blue-eyed man from the bar, James reflected, then, he was more handsome than the reporter’s memory registered in that blurry and drunk night. The Colombian covered his mouth as he remembered their kiss, a reckless action typical of drunk people he, nevertheless, enjoyed. He closed his eyes as embarrassment brought him back to reality. On second thought, it was better if they didn’t meet again.

* * *

Álvaro had his attention divided between his journal and the books he planned to read. Fernando was right when he suggested journaling as an activity for his vacations. It was a pleasant experience indeed, as he was free to put all his ideas on the paper without any pressure for a perfect work. For the first time, he had a sense of self-discovery and understood his feelings better. Perhaps, it would help him create his own style of writing, something that would reflect positively on his work, that one thing all his editors warned that he still lacked. He flipped through the first pages of his notebook with proud eyes, when the phone that sat beside the pile of books rang.

“Night, Nacho.” Álvaro answered joyfully.

“Night, Álvaro. Are you busy now?”

“Nah, I’m just writing my feelings out...journal things, you know?”

“You have a journal? How cool! I didn't know you were into these stuffs.”

“I have just stared the first pages and I haven't thought it would be this nice.”

“I have one too, about random stuffs. Maybe we should exchange some ideas any time.”

“Sure. Let's meet one of these days, before I return to Turin.”

“Oh yes. Actually, I called you to ask about meeting. Are you free tomorrow?”

“If I’m gonna be free? Dude, these days what I have the most is free time. If you want to come, you will be very welcome.”

“Nice! Can I bring Dani, Jesé and Isco, then? We will come after work!”

Álvaro bowed his head as he heard Isco’s name. They had promised to see each other the next day, but just the two of them. He sighed at the change in the plan, but smiled as the game magazine reporter's image came into his head. Any way he had to see Isco made him happy, even if they weren’t alone, even if their friends annoyed them with their ‘shipping’ things, because it was obvious that those three were planning something.

“Sure, bring everyone here! But keep in mind that you won’t be able to push Isco and me together.”

“What are you talking about? It’s just an innocent visit of friends.” Nacho pitched out his voice.

“Just your voice tone right now scares the shit out of me.” Alvaro snorted. “Anyway, you guys don’t have to worry about us. We are kinda working things out.” He said, thankful that Nacho didn’t see the blush forming on his face.

“Really? But we talked earlier on that you made a resolution not to involve romantically with him.”

“I’m keeping my words, Nacho, but we have met in the library and I’m coming to the conclusion that maybe you are right. I should at least open myself up and get to know him.”

“So you two have been meeting without our knowledge?!” Nacho screamed out and Álvaro had to put his phone away.

“Hey, you don’t have to scream! If you knew, you guys would mock us…Anyway, whatever you do is useless, because Isco already has his significant other.”

“Oh, I didn’t expect that you two reached an understanding this fast!”

“No, Nacho, you don’t get me…He has found that person, but it is not me.”

“What are you saying? Of course…”

Álvaro interrupted the friend's speech. “It’s okay, Nacho, I’m already content with his company, even if just as a friend.”

“Are you stupid? Isco doesn’t have anyone, at least he hasn’t told us.”

“Well, he might be hiding it, or maybe he’s about to confess to them…”

“How can you be so sure?”

“He told me today.”

“I think you misinterpreted it. I’m gonna ask him myself and clear things out for good.”

“Do as you please, but I beg you, Nacho, don’t push him. I don’t wanna lose his friendship.”

“I assure you that after tomorrow, you will have more than a friendship with Isco.”

“And I assure your guessing will be wrong.”

“Well, let's see who wins the guessing.”

A new hope warmed Álvaro’s heart, but he wouldn’t expect anything yet, not until he was sure about Isco’s feelings.

“Anyway, since you are all coming, I’m thinking of inviting Fernando to get to know you guys.”

“I see no problem. The more people, the merrier.”

“Okay, then. You are coming late in the afternoon, right?”

“Most likely yes, but I’ll tell you if we leave earlier.”

“Oh and don’t forget to bring your journal!”

“'Kay!”

After the two friends hung up, Álvaro picked the book pile and sorted out the titles. He wondered about which title Isco would choose to read. He would ask him the next day.

* * *

Fernando has wandered around Madrid on his own for hours. It was a bad idea indeed to walk through streets whose names he barely knew, but the outcome was a consequence of bad communication. After the work reunion with the staff from J Editorial at a place near the hotel in which the members were staying, everyone returned to the building except for him, who went to another direction. Luckily, he has bumped into a kind, yet stubborn person who gave him the right directions to his aunt's house. He furrowed his brow as he recalled the other man and his beautiful features…They have surely met before, but the difficult with memorizing people’s faces was one of his weak points; therefore, he couldn’t remember their encounter's background. The highest probability was a date or a one-night stand, as he had met dozens people in the past few years, but he had an impression that their meeting was elsewhere, and that they somehow had a deeper bond, unrelated to a casual affair.

“Thank God you arrived, Fer! I was starting to get worried,” Fernando's aunt said, deviating her attention from the TV as she heard the door open and saw her nephew come. 

“Sorry for coming so late, aunt. I got lost around Madrid. I called you several times, but you didn’t get the phone.”

“Oh, it’s because I was at the kitchen, so I probably didn’t hear the phone. How did you get here, though?”

“I would say technology, but we can't fully trust it yet, huh," he said with a grimace, remembering the not-really-friendly instructions from his GPS. "Well, a kind soul helped me get here."

“Thankfully!” Fernando’s aunt smiled with relieve and stood up. “Now, let me heat the dinner for you.”

Fernando shook his heads. “Thanks, aunt, but let me take care of the dinner myself. I have already made you worried all this time.” He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Please, relax, I'm already used to dealing with cooking.”

“If you say so... Then, let me go back to my favorite series! The best scene of the chapter is about to come.” She winked at him, sat on the sofa and focused her attention back to the TV screen.

He grinned and took out of trousers' pocket the piece of paper with the directions. That was a beautiful handwriting, just like its writer. He narrowed his eyes and deliberated. Madrid was such a global city; chances were they wouldn’t meet again, not to mention he was going to return to Turin on Sunday -that is, in four days-. He put the piece of paper back to the pocket and headed to the kitchen. As he opened the faucet of the sink and let the water flow through his hands, the flashback from moments ago played on his head and reminded him of their meeting. 

'Absent-minded, tight-fisted and owner of a beautiful smile,' the Turin newspaper reporter reflected upon his impressions on the other man. “But he is just a kind stranger, Fernando. A random someone whose name you forgot to ask and who you won't meet again,” he spoke with himself.

Yet Fernando couldn't understand why that man's presence disturbed him, despite him having no clue about their acquaintance. It was rare of him to record people's features right away, let alone admire them for more than a night. He was thankful for in three days, he would return to his routine and to his casual affairs.

His phone buzzed and he read Álvaro's message on his screen.

_'hey, Fer, can u come over tomorrow at around 4pm? my friends from RE r coming, and I want u to meet them'_

_'p.s: Isco will come and i want u to know him~'_

_'sure! i'll be free by that time, finally meet with ur crush'_

_'bro, we r just friends'_

_'anyway, see ya'_

_'just friends, okay, i believe haha. see ya and tks for inviting~'_

Well, at least there was something to distract him from those thoughts. He appreciated meeting new people, even more when they were fellow journalists, as it usually brought interesting discussions regarding their field of work. 'Who cares about a random stranger, anyway?', he thought with a shrug, but still remembering the man's smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Did I ruin your expectations? If I did, I'm sorry, this was an idea that came months ago, back when I wrote the backstory's draft. :/ Please, don't give up on reading this story. *bows*
> 
> -Comments and kudos are always welcome anyway!


	13. Insecurities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isco and Nacho go to Álvaro's house earlier than the scheduled time, while Dani stays with Jesé in the newspaper section (and the couple joins the group later on). Meanwhile, James struggles with finishing his work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -I'm sorry for another delay on the update. I've struggled so much to finish this chapter...At this rate, I'm seriously considering to shorten the story. :/
> 
> -This chapter contains little to no Krodriguez, because I saved them for the next one (actually, it should have been in this chapter, but their part got too long...). If you don't want to read Morisco, just skip to the part where James is troubled. :)

**R-Up! Magazine reunion**

It was the eve of the fair, and the R-Up! Magazine staff gathered for a meeting. Sergio divided the team into small groups, each one of them in charge of a duty with rotation in shifts. The great majority would work around the exposition center, covering the event with interviews, photos and videos. Others would upload them on the online page, and a few would spend some time at the Real Editorial stand sponsoring the magazine and distributing prizes. The magazine’s work for the day was to estipulate the group’s schedules and shifts for the three-day event, in a way so that everyone worked and had a free time to enjoy the fair, as the event was unmissable for them, reporters who also happened to be technology fans. With the matters settled and the schedule filled, the staff had the close of the day.

“If we knew that the reunion was going to be short, we should have arranged to go to Álvaro’s house earlier.” Nacho commented.

“Yeah, but Jesé still has a few hours of work left at the newspaper…” Dani sighed.

As minutes went by, the main room emptied out, leaving only the two of them and a lively Isco, who held a smile all the time with his focus on his phone.

_“work is over for 2day *smiling face*, just lazing around now”_

_“y don’t u guys come here then "grinning face*”_

_“Jesé is still working, and we promised to go all together”_

_“hmm, okay then, I'll wait for u guys. I cant wait to meet u again *kissing face with closed eyes*”_

_“I can’t wait either *winking face*”_

At that moment, part of him had the wish of going ahead of the boys. It was tempting, indeed, to get the chance to spend some time alone with Álvaro. In a private space, just the two of them, he would be able to confess to him without being interrupted. However, another part accused him of being selfish and impatient.

“If you want, you can go first. I will tell Jesé and he won’t mind.” Dani smirked at Isco.

The gamer dropped his phone as he realized the co-worker was beside him, spying over his shoulders.

“Which part of the messages have you read?”

“You had this stupid smile on your face and I was curious to know what is written on your phone’s screen to give you such a reaction.”

Isco was about to push Dani aside when Nacho intervened. 

“I agree with Dani. The three of us can go later on. Besides, his house is not that far from here, I can give you his address. No, better than that, I’ll drive you there!”

While they chatted in the main room, Sergio appeared from the editor's room direction with his earphones on, nonchalantly humming a song and dancing to the beat. The melody from the song increased as the editor approached the main room, catching the men's attention and making them freeze at the sight of their boss. Nevertheless, the ‘devil-in-disguise’, as the reporters called him, had a mild countenance when he met them.

“What are you guys still doing here?” Sergio raised an eyebrow.

“We are waiting for Jesé’s end of the office hour.” Dani replied between yawns. Spying on Isco was just way he found to get out of the boredom.

“Is that so? Then, why don’t you go to the newspaper section to check on him? I’m sure Marcelo won’t mind!” The editor suggested with a grin. “Let me go now, because I still have many things to go. Take a rest, kids. See you tomorrow!”

The three men waved back to Sergio and looked at one another mouth-dropped at his behavior, completely different from the usual bossy self.

“He is in a good mood today, huh?” Isco admired. Perhaps, it was because he was going to meet the person with whom he talked on the phone that day, as he had overheard. 

“If Jesé were here, he would agree with me that it’s Iker effect.” Dani commented with an amusing smile on his face.

“Are you guys still at it?” Isco narrowed his eyes.

“Not really. Lately, we have been working on original characters, but let me tell you a secret: our protagonists are inspired on Sergio and Iker; therefore, I’m sure Jesé will be happy to know about Sergio.” Dani rubbed his hands together.

“Well, we should go tell him then!” Nacho suggested.

“Hm, let’s do better: you go with Isco to Álvaro’s house, and I will go with Jesé later. After all, he has come with me today, so I have to wait for him anyway.”

“Depending on me, it’s fine. What do you think, Isco?”

“I-if this is okay…I mean, there is not that much space for us in the newspaper section, right? We would bother the people and such…”

“It will be okay, and you will spend more time with Álvaro!”

The three reporters checked on the magazine section that they were the remaining employees in the room and turned off the lights, greeting the security guards after leaving the place and walking to the main corridor of the publishing house.

“See you guys soon!” Dani waved to them and headed to the newspaper section.

Nacho and Isco waved back, and the technology reporter patted on the gamer’s shoulder.

“Come on, let’s surprise Álvarito!”

* * *

**At the newspaper section**

James ran his hands through his hair. It was one of those days when the words didn’t come easily and it was a struggle to finish the text. In addition, frustration added more chaos into his mind, because he still couldn’t believe he had most likely met the man from the bar again without confirming his identity. Two meetings, yet James knew nothing about him.

The reporter picked the piece of paper filled with drafts, crushed it into a ball and released the object to the bin's direction, only to miss the target. He groaned and walked up to grab the ball and threw into the basket. Jesé passed near him in that moment and raised his eyebrows at the Colombian distress.

“Wow, someone is on a bad mood today.”

“Writing block.” James huffed. “I can’t get to finish my article.”

“Personal problems?”

James looked down. Jesé took the other man’s reaction as a confirmation and approached him.

“Toni?” He lowered his voice, so the German wouldn’t hear them.

James frowned. “No…that has nothing to do with him.”

Jesé raised an eyebrow. Toni has been the source of James’ distress at least for the past six months. If he wasn’t the one causing that, then who or what could be?

“If you need someone to listen to you…” A pair of hands covered Jesé's eyes and interrupted him. His lips formed a grin, as he recognized a familiar scent. “Dan.” 

“Surprise, Je.” Dani grinned and kissed him.

“What are you doing here?” The culture reporter asked with an amused look.

“There is no work for today after the reunion, so everyone went home.”

“Where is Nacho and Isco, though?”

“Oh, I told them to go ahead, as Isco was so eager to meet Álvaro. Hope you don’t mind.”

“You did the right thing! If it helps them realizing their feelings, I am more than willing to let them spend some time alone.”

“That’s my boyfriend.” Dani kissed Jesé’s cheek. “But guess who suggested me to pay you a visit? Sergio!”

“Don’t tell me! He was in a good mood, then.”

"He was all joyful! Somehow, he returned to his old usual self, from the times he worked here.” The ‘R-Up!’ reporter winked at his love partner. “I wonder if it’s because of a certain someone.”

Jesé's eyes brightened. “Iker, of course! Is he coming to the fair?”

“I have no idea, but we know Sergio assumes a happier posture only when he’s around Iker.”

“I am sure they are more than friends, but I never dared to go after proofs.”

"'Certain things are so obvious that they don't need proofs', that is what you yourself say when we write our fanfics."

"I know, but still..."

An employee closer to them asked for silence and the others in the neighboor desks assented with a glare.

“Je, is it really okay if I wait for you here?" Dani asked, his voice more quietly. 

“Well, that will depend on Marcelo…” Jesé glanced at the editor’s room.

“Marcelo is a nice editor. Just talk with him and I think he will allow.” James, who until then, just listened silently to the couple talk, suggested. “Now, let me go back to my seat, because I need to finish this fucking article.”

“Wait, James. I was just about to say that you can talk anytime.”

“Thanks, Jesé..." James smiled. "...but that’s not something you could help with.” He bended his head down and slowly walked back to his seat.

“Has he fought with Toni again?” Dani furrowed his brow.

"According to him, they haven't." Jesé shrugged.

“Hey, guys. Talking about me?” Toni approached them, after the chattering caught his attention and made him look for its source.

“Hey, Toni.” Jesé waved. “James has that overwhelmed vibe with him. We wanted to know if you two argued today.”

“Well, to be honest, I haven’t spoken with him today, but I thought he would be happier, because we kind of reached an understanding yesterday.”

They all looked at the Colombian reporter clasp his hands over his head and shrunk his shoulders.

“He’s probably facing some writing issue. Happens to everyone once in a while.” Toni chewed his lips and remembered his own unfinished work. “Now that I assured you guys that I have nothing to do with his problem, I’m gonna finish my text.” He gave a small smile and waved to them.

“Let's talk with Marcelo? Just your presence itself, will help me finish this work for today.” Jesé smiled at Dani and the other man nodded, placing a hand over his shoulder.

* * *

**Anticipated visit**

Álvaro’s house bell rang and interrupted the booklover's reading. He placed the copy of "Dune" on the small table in front of him and stood up from the sofa, walking in the direction of the door. Opening it, he widened his eyes and grinned.

"Hey, there, Álvarito!"

"Hi there, Álvi."

"Hello, Nacho, Isco." Álvaro shooked the boys' hands and hugged them. "So, you've decided to come earlier?"

"Yeah, especially because someone here was way too eager to wait for Jesé." Nacho smugged at Isco's direction.

"I didn't say anything. It was all Dani spying on my messages." Isco defended himself. "I hope it's okay that we came earlier."

"Relax, Isco, it's perfectly fine!" Álvaro tidied the sofa cover and invited them to sit. "Please, make yourself comfortable, while I see if I get some snacks for you."

"Nah, it's okay. Just chill, Álvi." Nacho assured.

"Oh yeah, Nacho, have you brought your journal?"

The technology journalist slapped his palm against his forehead. "Fuck, I knew I have forgotten something. I'm quite sure I have left the journal on my desk."

"What a pity. We'll have to save for next time, then."

"No, wait. I'll go get there and I'll be just back," Nacho said, standing up. 

"But Nacho, the guards have locked the entrance," Isco stood up and warned the co-worker. 

"I'll go talk with them, they are nice people and will open the entrance if I explain."

"Nacho, it's okay, we can do it next time."

However, he didn't listen to Álvaro's words and walked to the entrance. "I'll be right back!" he repeated, before leaving the two men alone in the quiet living room, staring at each other with a puzzled look. 

"What got into him to leave so fast?"

"I dunno." Isco shrugged. "It's not like him to act so clumsy."

Álvaro squeezed Isco's shoulders and invited him to sit on the sofa. "It's just the two of us now, but I restate: please, make yourself comfortable here."

"Thanks, Álvaro." The gamer smiled and glanced through the 'Dune' cover. "Have you started reading it?"

"Just the first pages. I'm taking a peek in all the books to decide on which title I'll read first."

It upset Isco that he had left the book package untouched since the day before; thus, he had nothing to comment, no reading experience to share. "I didn't have time, but as soon as the fair is over, I'll check the books too, but I'm okay if we start by Dune to be sincere. By the summary, I see that it matches my favorite sci-fi style."

"Let's pick this book as our first choice, then." Álvaro pointed at the book. The perception that the other man has been busy with work reminded him of the technology fair on the weekend. "So, everything prepared for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Sergio was very nice and gave us some time to enjoy the fair, but I'll just be more free on Sunday. What about you, which day do you intend on coming to the fair?"

"I don't know yet. I'll probably attend the three days, since I don't have much to do at home."

"Good for you, there will be so many attractions that just one day isn't enough."

"And you'll be working on the first two days."

"I'll be working on the three days, actually, but I'll find a way of having fun during breaks."

"I would love to join you on the fun of sneaking through the stalls," Álvaro said, his eyes brightening at the idea of spending some time with the other man.

"And I would love to have your company, but you'll get tired of waiting for my breaks."

"I have free time, so it's fine." Álvaro leaned forward and caressed Isco's arms.

Álvaro's touch gave his skin a warming sensation. Whether it was a signal of flirting or a mere friendly gesture, truth was it made Isco feel good. 

"Thanks, Álvi. You're amazing," Isco praised, taking Álvaro's hands on his.

They gazed at each other in a way so that their emotions connected and they spoke through their eyes, dismissing the need of words. 

"Álvaro...I have to tell you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

Isco broke their glance and chewed on his lips. He took a deep breath and rubbed his neck. He had to be brave now and say all at once. "Truth is, I like you."

Álvaro smiled brightly at him. "I also like you."

The game reporter added with a stutter, "I mean, I like you as...as my special one."

He said it. Isco surprised himself and Álvaro by being the first one to confess. The gamer looked at the booklover waiting for his reaction, but the other man just slendered his eyes and looked down.

"Isco, are you sure of what you are saying?"

Isco nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I'm more and more sure as the days pass by."

Álvaro swallowed and turned his head to Isco with a sad smile. "We don't even know each other that much, how can you be so sure that I'm your special one?"

The grin on Isco's face disappeared, being replaced by a frown. "Because we understand each other well."

"I agree that we have a special connection, but don't you think it's still early to say so?"

"I have never felt this way towards anyone before, Álvaro."

"I haven't either, Isco, but still..." The booklover crossed his arms tight, shrinking his shoulders. "I don't wanna disappoint you if I end up not being your special one."

A frown formed on Isco's forehead, as he observed the other man's behavior. "You're afraid of disappointing yourself again."

"Yeah, there is this point too."

The two men looked down and away, a sigh from Isco breaking the uncomfortable silence that installed in the room. "I'm still willing to give a chance to this feeling."

The confidence in Isco's voice surprised Álvaro, making him turn to the gamer. "Aren't you afraid of hurting yourself?"

"I have already hurt myself several times before to be afraid, Álvaro; I don't fear anything else." Somehow, Álvaro could see the same sadness from the day before displayed on Isco's eyes, a pain that was subtle at first, but increasingly clear as he spoke. The taller man doesn't know what got into his head at that moment, but he pulled Isco closer in a tight embrace.

As a reaction of the abrupt gesture, the gamer's back stiffened, but soothed as he wrapped his arms around the taller man's back and let himself into the embrace. They stayed like that until the doorbell rang, making Álvaro break the touch and walk to the door. Nacho stood by the entrance with a notebook and a bag.

"I have found the journal and I bought some snacks in a convenience store nearby!" Nacho exclaimed as he entered the house and looked from Álvaro to Isco, noticing from their constrained expressions, however, that it was a bad time to arrive. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, Nacho. We were just talking about the fair and about relationships."

"Have you two settled your feelings, then?" Nacho had a close-lipped smile on his face, and Álvaro narrowed his eyes at his friend's reaction.

"You lied to us. You haven't forgotten your journal."

"I didn't lie, I just remembered that I had put it on the glove compartment earlier on. Then, I didn't want to return without bringing something for us to eat."

"You're such a bad liar, Nacho."

"You're welcome, Álvarito, but it seems I really interrupted your moment, so I guess I'll return to the publishing house."

"You haven't interrupted anything, Nacho. Please, stay with us here."

"I'll take it to the kitchen. Thanks for bringing them, Nacho." Álvaro grabbed the bag and walked away from the living room, letting the two co-workers there.

Nacho waited until Álvaro was out of sight to give Isco a inquiry look.

"Nothing happened, he isn't willing to get into a relationship."

The technology reporter raised an eyebrow and bowed his head down. He was going to say something, but Álvaro returned shortly after, with two recipients and a bag of snacks. 

"Álvaro, my bookworm, you never change..." Nacho shook his head.

"What did I do this time?" He asked, opening a sack of snack and pouring it into the recipient.

"Just being stupid as always."

"Stupid." Álvaro folded the empty sack in rough movements. "As if you are that much intelligent." 

"At least I have a good sense of relationships..."

The doorbell rang once more and interrupted the argument Álvaro was on the verge of continuing. After casting a glare to Nacho, he headed to the door and opened it, welcoming an exhausted Fernando.

"Hey, Fer, you came in a good time," Álvaro invited him to enter and frowned as he saw the man panting and leaning next to the door. "Are you okay? You look so torn."

“Railway and walking were how I made it here.” The older reporter grinned, took a breath and walked inside the house. “I should have come by taxi, but I have spent so much these days.” In fact, the charming stranger’s words from the day before still echoed in his mind. He had to agree that walking was healthy and economic. If they ever meet again, he would give him a point.

“At least you didn’t get lost around Madrid.”                                                      

“Don’t even get me started. Yesterday was so chaotic that I ended up going back to my aunt’s house by feet, after hours of wandering around,” he said, joining the living room and meeting Isco and Nacho sat on the sofa with a smile. “So, your friends from RE are already here?”

“Dani and Jesé have yet to come, but these are Nacho and Isco.”

“Hey, I am Fernando and I work with Álvaro in Turin.”

They shook one another’s hand, a cordial first meeting, but Isco let his sharp tongue speaks for himself, an habit that didn't leave him. “So, you are the missing date!”

“Yeah, it’s me, haha. Thanks for 'passing' as me, by the way. Álvaro has been talking about you all the time since I arrived here.”

Isco raised an eyebrow and looked at Álvaro. Understanding his mind was a challenge. On one hand, Isco is on his talks all the time; on the other hand, the man is afraid of taking the risk of an involvement with him. “It flattens me that I have been present in your conversations, Álvaro.”

Álvaro didn't reply. He just stared down with reddened cheeks, as the words faded away from his mouth.

“Is Álvaro as clueless in Turin as he was in Madrid?” Nacho darted and resumed the argument from minutes ago.

“Don’t begin, Nacho…” Álvaro fumed.

“He is, and it is quite annoying sometimes,” Fernando agreed. “There were some co-workers who were interested in him, but he never paid attention to the signals.”

“What you mean by co-workers interested in me? Nobody has ever shown any interest on me.”

Fernando chuckled as the cluelessness of the younger reporter showed through his countenance. “Let me see. I remember Pogba flirted with you several times, but he gave up when he realized you didn’t respond to his advances. Pereyra also confessed having a crush on you, but he has already moved on.”

Álvaro slacked the tension off his shoulders, widening his eyes at the realization. “Man, I had no idea…If you hadn’t told me, I'd have never found out.”

The group continued chatting about Álvaro's flopped love interests both in Madrid and Turin, with Álvaro grumbling everytime and Isco just giggling at his crush's lack of perception. Afterwards, Dani and Jesé arrived from the Real Editorial, and the journalists moved to other topics, ranging from work comparisons between the publishing houses to the climate, most recent news to football matches. From Nacho and Álvaro trying convincing Isco to join their 'brand-new journal club', showing their notes and exchanging ideas about stationeries, to Dani, Jesé and Fernando discussing about relationship issues.

"How long have you been together?" Fernando asked out of curiosity. "I don't mean to be indiscrete, but it always amaze me to meet established couples."

"Well, we have met during High School."

"But we have just started dating in our second year, so...about 6-7 years?"

"Yeah, 6-7 years!"

"So long! How can you keep the flames alive though?"

Jesé and Dani gazed into each other smilingly, their longtime understanding expressed through their eyes.

"Dani and I are partners in everything. We share the same craziness for things that other people don't understand," Jesé boasted, his head lifted with pride.

"And we don't take each other for granted. That's our motto for life." Dani wrapped his arm around his boyfriend.

"When he says craziness, he means it, Fer," Álvaro meddled into the conversation, after getting tired of arguing with Nacho over their favorite brands. 

"Yeah, there can't be anyone else to cope with their shipping obssession."

"They ship even co-workers!"

"See? Nobody understands us." 

Fernando just giggled at the friends' discussion, but at heart, he fought against the gushing envy for the loving couple, nonetheless, doing his best to suppress the feeling. His choice of relations put him into a comfort zone, but they couldn't fill the void of loneliness, nor surpass the bitter taste left by the past.

The noises of juggling keys and following door unlock echoed in the room, and the men's attention darted to the entrance direction, which revealed the familiar smiling woman in her late forties.

"Hey, the house is crowded today!"

"Hello, Mrs. Morata!" The boys greeted all at once.

"It has been a while since the last time we have received so many people. What do you guys think about a pizza tonight?"

The group assented unanimously and Álvaro searched for the pizza parlor's phone number, smiling at the change in the house's routine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Idk this chapter is bad, and I feel like editing everything. :(
> 
> -As usual, comments and kudos are welcome!
> 
> -Anyone noticed the subtle!Seriker? :')


	14. Help/Countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James' saga through the unfinished work continues, but he will get a helping hand with that. The narration, afterwards, moves to Sergio's apartment, where the editor talks with Iker on the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much the continuation of the previous one, as they happen on the same day.

Hours have passed, and almost all the reporters of the Real Diario left home. Toni arranged his desk after returning from Marcelo’s room and stretched his arms as the work for that day was over. He glanced briefly through James' desk and checked that the man was still there, with the same bothered expression. His feet were already moving to that direction as the idea of offering help perpassed his mind, but he stopped the track and recalled James would clearly refuse his support. He turned back, took his bag and walked to the entrance, only to stand by the automatic sliding door as the continued noise of an object falling into the bin resonated in the almost empty room. He would guess it was the hundredth time the Colombian repeated the gesture that day. The German looked from the basket full of paper balls to James, took a deep breath and walked to the other man's direction. Standing in front of the bin, he picked one paper ball, the closest to the top of the pile, and opened it, discovering a text filled with erasures.

“Hmm…not bad." Toni commented after reading the first paragraph, loud enough to make James turn to his direction. "I see no problem here.” 

“What are you doing here?” He grumbled and snatched the paper away from the other man's hand. “This is none of your business.”

“Your text is good. What is your struggle this time?”

The reporter sighed. He was not in the mood to argue; therefore, he stood on his feet and gave the paper back to the German.

“Read until the end to find out. The problem is especially on the end part.” James returned to his seat and bended down.

After scanning his eyes through the text, Toni placed his hand on James' shoulder, leaning closer. “It is still not bad, but I would add something else here.”

Their cheeks brushed slightly, and in the Colombian's opinion, the distance between them was awkwardly short. “Are you sure you want to help? You don’t have to, Toni, really.”

“It is not a problem for me. Come on, let’s work on this.” Toni grabbed a chair, sat beside James and picked a pencil. “How about we start the last paragraph with this…?” He scribbled a few words on the paper.

James rubbed his chin and glanced through the freshly written sentence. “Man, I haven’t thought about this. Makes sense."

“And the previous paragraph is quite redundant. Perhaps, if you summed up your idea there, it’ll be easier to end the text.”

“You’re right, I so thought there was something wrong. Thanks for pointing; with this, I can eventually finish the article. ”

“You’re welcome.” Toni displayed a shy smile, his eyes meeting the other man's. James observed, from the small gap that separated them, that the blue in Toni's eyes were quite different from the man of the bar's crystal-blue ones. Depending on the light, Toni's blue reminded him of the sky on a sunny day; other times, they acquired a darker, greenish-purplish coloration with intensity as high as the stranger's. He could get lost in those eyes for hours, searching for the best words to describe them, and still not find a precise description...

“You can go home now, Toni.” James looked away, embarrassment covering his face after the staring.

The German considered making up a situation to stay, just so they could return together, but gave in since he has committed to be more sincere.

“I will stay around if you need any help. We can go back home together, just like old times.” Gosh, he missed so much their shoulder-to-shoulder walks back-and-forth home, James leaning on him on their most tiresome days; he comforting the Colombian, theirs arms intertwined and one's hands rested on the other's waist.

“I don’t want you take another interpretation to this moment.” James lifted his head. “We are nothing but co-workers.”

“You’ve said it before, don’t worry. This gesture is coming from your fellow co-worker, not your ex-douchebag-boyfriend.”

James placed his palms to the forehead, a quiet grumble coming from his mouth. Toni looked down, took his bag and stood up, as he realized his presence would just upset the other man.

"I'm gonna wait for you outside the entrance," the German communicated, his voice fading out as he walked away.

“Do as you wish.” The reporter focused his attention back to the text, ruling out the single possibility of a relationship's reminding.

Forty-five minutes later, James counted, he had the article finished, typed, printed and sent out to Marcelo.

“You could still send it tomorrow, but good work!”

“Thanks, Marcelo." He waved his fist clenched on the air. "I struggled, but made it."

The Colombian greeted the editor and returned to the main room. It has been a tough day, but thanks to Toni, he managed to finish the text. Who would have thought that after all this time, that guy would still offer support, despite James having rejected him? Nevertheless, the German wouldn't be crazy to wait for him during almost an hour, he mentally deliberated, while placing his stuffs onto the bag and walking out of the nearly empty room, in which just a few reporters remained working. When he walked past the sliding door, however, he spotted no other than Toni with his shoulder inclined to the wall and eyes focused on the phone. 

“So, you have been waiting for me this whole time?” James called out for the Toni’s attention.

Toni gave a small smile as he heard James’ voice and straightened his back. “I told you I was going to wait outside. Everything went fine?”

“Yes, I managed to finish the article,” James assented, the brightness on his eyes still present despite the tiredness. “But really, you didn’t have to wait for me.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. Besides, I took this time to message some friends with whom I haven't spoken for a while.”

“Oh, okay then. Let’s go home?” James managed a smile, and Toni had to contain himself from wrapping his arms around the other man. 

The two men had a friendlier attitude on their way back, despite keeping some distance from each other. James complained about how hard it was to find the fitting sentences to finish the text, while Toni gave more suggestions for future reference. 

“You have improved in your vocabulary, Toni," James acknowledged, recalling the word suggestions for the text. 

“I have been dedicating additional hours to studying Spanish.”

“Way to go, man. If you keep going like this, soon, you will no longer need help.”

“It’s not like that, I still struggle a lot.” Toni looked down and lowered his voice.

James looked to Toni and away. “Well, if you need any help, we could schedule a study session.”

“Really? I miss our study sessions.” The German raised his head and smiled faintly at the other man.

“We help each other out. That has been our work partnership motto, remember?” James said, with his eyes still focused on the walk.

“It's impossible to forget," Toni commented. That was something they always said to each other back when they have started working together. "In turn, if you would like to learn a bit of German...for the trip, I could help you. I mean, it’s not mandatory to know, but still...”

“I would love to learn at least the basics! But we won’t have much time until the trip.” The Colombian shrunk his shoulders. “Besides, I don’t wanna bother you.”

“Spending time with you is never a bother, much on the opposite.” Toni asserted, a blunt tone in his voice.

The statement made James' cheeks fluster, the annoying sensation of butterflies gushing over his stomach. Why did the German have such an effect on him? Why couldn’t he not feel anything else for him? He wondered.

“Same on here. You’re an amazing co-worker, Toni.” That was his attempt of adopting a cool attitude and cover those reactions.

They were in front of the building when Toni stood up by the gate and as soon as the gatekeeper opened, James walked ahead, his co-worker following right after, the two making their way in silence to their floor. When they reached out the door to their respective apartments and the Colombian opened his mouth to wish ‘good night’, the German looked straight at him with a serious expression. 

“I have noticed, from our last conversations, that you are constantly in need of reassuring our work partnertship, while you don't even give me the chance of mentioning what we had before.” Toni brought back, again, the topic about their affair, something James has fought hard to erase from his life.

“'What did we have before?’ is what I ask you instead. To me, it was nothing but an illusion from our heads.” James folded his arms around his chest, taking a step back when Toni approached him with a frown.

“An illusion is what it meant for you. I don’t get it,” Toni bewailed, confusion and hurt mixed in his voice. Their romance was the most real experience he has ever had; there was no way he could dismiss that.

“Sorry, I used a bad expression here." James' mouth twisted into an ironic smile. "Of course it existed, but truth is, ’what we had’ was something transitory, faded to fall into oblivion; therefore, I consider it an illusion.” He drifted away and picked the apartment’s key, turning his body to place it into the door handle.

“How can you say that? After all the moments we shared together…” The German placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder.

“You still wonder? It has been nothing but a farce, Toni. Our words of affection, our kisses, our love…everything was a freaking lie.” James, with his back still turned to Toni, rested his head on the door and fought against a drop of tear that fell from his eye. He took a deep breath and turned to him. “Have I said something wrong? You know more than anyone.”

The two men were now facing each other, only a few inches separating them. “I know about my lies, yes, and I regret every single day for not having been honest with you. Nevertheless, it doesn’t give you any right to say that what we had was a farce.”

“I have all the right, yes, because that’s the truth, our ‘love’ built up from a lie. If you had been honest with me, I would have never gotten involved with you. I trusted you blindly, Toni, and I devoted myself to our relationship certain that you did the same, but I was so wrong, so deluded.” James exclaimed out, rubbing the tears that insisted on falling. “How stupid and naive I have been.”

The German leaned closer and wiped the tears away from James’ face, caressing the Colombian’s jaw gently.

“Look at me, James.” The whisper in Toni’s request sent goosebumps all over his body, and he slowly raised his head, making eye contact with the other man. “Do you think that what’s written in my eyes is a farce? What is reflected in yours?”

James shook his head slowly, numbness in his mind and lacking of words leaving him speechless. Through their exchanged gazes, he could mirror in the other man the sadness, but also the affection, and maybe something else he couldn't explain. Would Toni's eyes also reflect the same passion and the same flame that burnt all over James' body? The Colombian asked himself, grabbing the German’s neck and pulling him closer to his body. He could hear his own heartbeat resonating with the Toni’s, and the suffocating tension in the air making it difficult to breath. Toni’s lips were so close to his and so tempting, yet he shouldn’t surrender…but it was stronger than his reason, stronger than any grudge he held.

Their lips were one-step from touching when Toni’s phone rang and James broke apart from Toni’s touch with a constrained smile. The German groaned, but raised his eyebrows as soon as he identified the caller.

“Hello, Alaba?” Toni answered. “Yes, I have called you. What, you don’t know about Thomas’ whereabouts?”

James winced after hearing that name. He didn’t want to listen any further; therefore, he picked his bag and turned the key on handle, unlocking the door to his apartment. Toni rushed to his side and placed a hand on his arm, preventing him from walking inside.

“Okay, keep me informed if you know anything about him. Thank you for calling.” Toni hung up and found an upset James glaring at him.

“Please, don’t leave yet, James. Let’s finish our conversation.”

“We have nothing else to talk, Toni.”

“But I have.”

James sighed hard and nodded briefly. “Come in, then. We will disturb our neighbors if we keep talking in the corridor.”

Toni followed his work partner and stood at the entrance.

“So, what else do you have to talk? I am tired and I don’t wanna spend my time hearing about your ex’s life.”

“You are misunderstanding me, James. I called Thomas to ask for an explanation about the night before that article deadline, but it seems he has changed his number and is out of reach; in order to find his new number, I contacted some mutual acquaintances, but nobody knows about him.” The German took a deep breath and continued. “I wanted to inform you about this, because I’m more and more sure that you and Jesé were right about him.”

James rested his chin on his hands as he listened to Toni talk, furrowing his brows at the seemingly bitterness and the disappointment in his former lover’s voice. He couldn't help but relate with him. 

“Damn it, I am such an idiot! How could I be so blind to him?” Toni continued, slapping his hands over his forehead and messing his hair up.

The Colombian placed his hand on the co-worker's back and caressed it. He wished he had the guts to laugh at the other man out of revenge and throw at his face the mistakes for trusting the wrong person, but instead, he connected even more with him. 

“It’s okay, I guess, there was no way you could know...”

“Actually, there was a way, yes.” The German bowed down and covered his face. “I have told him that I wanted to end our engagement as soon as he arrived that night, but he begged for another chance and I gave him one week to try again. Now that I look behind, it was obvious that he would seek revenge and the begging was just a pretext to gain time.”

James clenched his teeth, eyes covered with the palm of his hand. If the facts happened according to his statement, then they made more sense now: Toni’s behavior of avoiding him during that week, Thomas coming to his apartment the same day as their suspension, probably to check that his plan went accordingly. Even so, it was hard to believe that Toni could be that oblivious to Thomas. For him to confide to his ex-fiancé at such degree meant that their ties really dated from a long time, as the ex-fiancé himself had told that day.

“I am sorry to hear about this. I just thought of my pain until now and hadn’t considered your feelings. It sucks when someone you trusted with all your faith ditches on you,” James contemplated, his words sounding like irony, because he was comforting no one other than the man responsible for his own heartbreak.

“I am the one who owe you an apology,” Toni said, raising his head and turning to look at James. “Many, many apologies.”

There were many things going on in James’ head, one of them the realization that Toni also suffered all this time, contrary to his belief that the co-worker was a cold-hearted douchebag. The other was that he still couldn’t understand Toni's and Thomas' relationship and the said engagement. If they trusted each other that much, why did Toni do the two timing? He wanted to ask this and other questions that bothered him all these months, but that just wasn’t the right moment. He splayed his fingers over the ache points of his head. With that current state of mind, a discussion would be pointless. 

“We are both broken, Toni,” James agreed, letting out a suppressed yawn. “Maybe I am a bit more broken after today.”

“I see you are," Toni assented, a glimpse of guilty in his look. "Sorry for dragging this topic again.”

“It's okay, I'm actually relieved that you brought it back, you just got a weight off my chest.  I think it’s better if we keep talking tomorrow, because I don’t think I can process any other information for today.”

“We are both tired from work; I agree that it’s a bad time for discussions, especially about relationships.” Toni walked closer to the door, as James opened it. 

“Good night, James.” Toni smiled. His eyes darted to the other man’s lips, but he looked away; he had to control himself to keep his co-worker respect. James, however, placed a hand on his arm and leaned closer, pressing his lips on the other man’s cheek.

“Good night, Toni. Thanks for helping today with the article and for waiting for me.” The Colombian's eyes brightened. “Oh, and also for opening up.”

That was too much for Toni to handle, despite that kiss being obviously an innocent act of gratitude. A subtle teasing, a part of his mind suggested, and he agreed with that inner voice. Cupping James’ face with his hands, he returned the other man’s gesture, but right on the lips, in a brief touch. “You’re welcome,” he gave a shy smile, before closing the door.

Cheeks flustered, James mindlessly hovered his palms around the key, barely hearing the locking click on the door handle. Sitting with back leaned on the door, he pouted, a mix of disappointment at the short kiss and upsetting for desiring a longer, deeper one. Brushing his lips with his fingers, he closed his eyes. He still loved Toni with all his heart, and that drove him mad. Besides, that wasn't supposed to happen. The peck on the cheek was just a way of thanking him, something friends do all the time; however, Toni has read otherwise and took advantage. He shook his head. That was what he gained for being nice with that guy.

* * *

Sergio sat at the kitchen table, taking a full cup of water and wiping a drop of sweat that fell through his temple. He took a glance through the kitchen. The sink shone brightly and reflected the lighting, the oven had no signal of dirt. He has cleaned all the rooten food from the refrigerator and the pantry. All the dishes were on their places. He had already cleaned the living room, where his dirt clothes were all over the place a few hours ago, but now hung outside. He has also cleaned the bathroom, something he hadn't done for weeks or months, he couldn't recall. He, then, walked into his room...No, better saying, their room, because Iker has spent many nights in that apartment; therefore, it was their home. Looking around the place, the 'R-Up!' Magazine editor spotted the current mess: sheets on the floor, pillows on the other side of the room, bed undone; he hasn't opened the window for who knows how long and there was a musty smell in the air. A huge contrast to the other rooms, he observed. He picked the phone from his pocket to check for the time, pondering on whether he should clean it tonight or tomorrow early on the morning, only to realize missing calls. With raised eyebrows, he dialed the person's phone.

"Hey, Iker, I saw you called me. Sorry, I was quite busy and didn't have time to get the phone."

"Sese, thank God you got my call! I was worried about you."

"Chill, _cariño_. I have been home since I returned from work."

"Let me guess it. You have been doing the cleaning you have procrastinated on doing since the last time I came."

"N-no...! I was getting mental and physically ready for tomorrow! Listening to chilling music, doing some stretching and stuff!" Sergio knew he was a bad liar and that he couldn't fool Iker, so much so that he heard the other man sigh heavily on the other side of the line.

"Yeah, okay, I'll pretend I believe in you. Just don't overexert yourself."

"I won't! But you didn't call to scold me, right?" They didn't have those things of who calls first, but Sergio was usually 'the one who calls several times in a day', 'the one who sends countless messages', something that annoyed Iker, especially during work. 

"I did, yes, but it seems I was too late to warn you not to do the cleaning today...But I also called to wish you the best luck for tomorrow. I wanted so much to be with you on the opening day, but you know, work..."

"Thanks, love! Don't worry about this, it's better for you to come just tomorrow; after all, you won't meet that freak old man." The editor commented.

"I'm not afraid of him." Iker resumed the subject. "He can't do any harm on me because I no longer work for RE."

"You no longer work for RE, but we both know him. I just don't want to watch him put you down again without me being able to defend you!"

"I can defend myself well!" Iker raised his voice, and Sergio heard him grumble on the phone. "Well, it doesn't matter, as Mr. Perez and I won't meet."

Sergio took a deep breath. It was better to move to another topic, because whenever they talked about the subject, they argued. "I'm counting the hours to have you by my side."

"Well, we have less than 24 hours for our meeting, so calm down, _hombre_." Iker's voice softened, and Sergio could hear a chuckle, followed by a brief pause. "I miss you, Sese."

"I miss you too, Iker." Sergio replied. "Will you dream about me tonight?"

"Well, I can't assure this, because I haven't remembered a dream for months...But I'll sleep with you in mind," Iker assured. "As always."

They wished good night for each other and hung up. Afterwards, Sergio sent a message filled with emojis to Iker and a note.

_"Sending u this virtual kiss and a big hug! Have fun with translating the emojis *face throwing kiss*"_

One minute later, the response came.

_"You more than anyone know I have a hard time with these emoji things and that it'll take me a while to translate the message."_

_"Hopefully, u'll discover until tomorrow, honey; otherwise, I'll have to translate it personally for u*winking face*."_

_"It better be something good."_

Sergio threw himself on the messed bed, grinning as he recalled Iker's issue with 'emoji'. Ever since he has caught Iker googling 'emoji meaning' while deciphering their friends' messages, he didn't miss an opportunity to mock his boyfriend. He let out a long yawn, fighting against the drowsiness, as he still had to clean the room. Standing up in slow motion, he made the resolution to take a good bath, sleep right away and wake up earlier to finish the cleaning. The room had to be neat for them, but Iker would scold him for overdoing things. Recalling his words, he made the resolution not to get anxious, as everything would be alright at home, with the apartment being inhabitable again, and at work, with all the staff motivated and cooperative. Tomorrow would be a good day, especially because they were meeting again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~I don't know when I'll post the next chapter. Well, it doesn't matter, since this story is a flop and nobody cares anymore. Nevertheless, I'll do my best to finish this, however long it takes, even if you guys don't give a damn about this.~~
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry about the drama. I just wanted to say that I love you all, dear readers who come by, read every chapter and comment/give kudos, and I'll keep publishing this story for you! <3


	15. Meeting and misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we have the first day of the international game and technology fair. Álvaro gets a surprise when his boss requests a covering to make. At the end of the chapter, Toni and James resume their conversation at the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for spending a month without updating the story. As I said in previous chapters, I'm having a hard time to continue writing this, and having classes again just makes everything worse. -.-

They were in the middle of the day, of the first day of “Madrid Game and Technology Fair”. The visitors crowded everywhere Isco glimpsed: be in the main hall, where the extensive corridor gave access to other areas, be on the stalls, where the people formed queues to get prizes and buy goods. The game sector had arcades of old games for nostalgic fans, as well as new releases with exciting features; e-sport competitions would happen during the three days, as well as conferences with famous game developers. The technology sector, in addition, concentrated the biggest industry names and came with promising releases. Those were the main attractions of the event, the trending topic among the members of the magazine over their favorites.

For the first day, Isco's group's duty was to stand by the RE stall and welcome the visitors, promote the magazine and take care of the special site maintenance. At that moment, for instance, the gamer managed the site content along with Dani and Nacho, each one of them with their attention fully focused on their laptop screens, while other members took care of the remaining activities. 

For an external observer, the malagueño displayed a calm and confident front. After all, he had all the reasons to be cool with the event. He was already an experienced with game and tech fair, as he has already taken part in previous editions as a visitor, so, he knew how things worked; nevertheless, it was a new experience for him to be on the other side of the fair. As an expositor and reporter, he had a duty to fulfill, a product to sell, an event to cover; thus, a bigger responsibility on his hands. Nothing that he couldn’t do with his hand behind his back, his malagueño charm. 

“You’re doing quite well on receiving the visitors, for someone who by the morning was biting his nails.” Nacho pointed out when he took a break from the site management. 

“I’m good at hiding my nervousness,” he answered, lips converted in his usual business smile before turning them back to a neutral expression. “It may not seem so, but I’m not only nervous, but also upset.”

"About Álvaro's absence?"

"Yup. I was looking forward to our meeting between the breaks, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow," he complained with a pout, while opening the message tab in his phone and checking bunch of exchanged texts from hours ago. He couldn’t hide the disappointment when Álvaro texted him earlier on telling that he wouldn’t be free today because his boss called him for a work in Madrid.

_“Can u believe that I have work 2day? *crying face*”_

_“*crying face* No way, u still on vacation! So u ain’t coming?”_

_“Idk, my boss just called me to ask me for a covering, I’ve no idea on its subject nor about the work location. I'm waiting for his return call with more information, so I can tell u if I'll make it at the fair 2day.”_

_"these things of covering might take some time, right?"_

_"yeah"_

_“let's save our meeting for 2morrow then"_

_“yeah 2tomorrow i can assure that i'll be free"_

_“'kay, see ya and good luck with ur work!’_

_“tks bb *face throwing kiss* good luck with ur work as well and see ya”_

Scrolling past the screen, he grumbled. Now he had to contempt himself with sneaking through the stalls alone.

"Look at the bright side. More than half of the day is over. There is less than twenty-hours for your meeting!"

"Good that you always find something positive, Nachito," Isco said with a small smile.

It definitely won't be the same as having Álvaro around. Although he was still not over with the man's reaction to his confession the day before, practically dumping him, he wasn't willing to give up yet. There was something in the booklover's voice and look that told him that his feelings were reciprocal and opposed to the cold words spoken. Putting up a wall to protect yourself from getting hurt was a defense mechanism Isco has used several times before; therefore, he understood the other man's struggle. Even though he couldn't say that he was fully free from his fears, he has already overcome several invisible barriers that prevented him from getting achievements.

They no longer spoke about the subject since then, but as soon as they meet, he is going to touch the matter again. Regardless of them being together or apart afterwards, he is going to help Álvaro overcome his fears, because that's what he felt to be right at heart. 

At that moment, however, a loud groan coming from nearby interrupted, followed by bad language cursing, interrupted Isco's thoughts and plans. 

_"Fuck! #@ &%*!”_

For a moment, he wondered if those words came from his imagination, as they conveyed his current state of mood; however, a few seconds later, the puzzled looks on Dani, Nacho and the rest of the staff confirmed that he wasn't imagining things and pointed to the same conclusion: it was Sergio's voice coming from a close distance and nobody understood the reason behind the editor's behavior.

"That fucking crazy old man! Fuck the shit off, crap son of a...!" Sergio appeared from the deposit room, unaware that the members from R!Up stared at him, as well as some curious visitors. 

"What's up, boss? Has something wrong happened?" Nacho was the only employee who dared to ask the man, as the rest gathered at a side and just watched the scene quietly.

"The president. His secretary has just called me that he will be busy all day today, meaning that he will attend the event tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

"Well, it doesn't make much of a difference...Just one or two days, right?" Isco noted, unsure of saying something that would upset the editor.

"It makes a lot of difference, because..." Sergio sighed, shoulders shrinking as he spoke, the hesitation preventing him for talking further. "You know what, forget about it. Go back to your work, there are many visitors passing by.” He waved to the pupils and dashed with his phone plugged to his ears.

The employees glanced through one another and nodded briefly, each one returning to their respective duties in a rush and pretending the moment from a few minutes ago hasn't happened.

When the environment returned to its normality, Isco couldn't keep his mouth shut and threw in the question that puzzled everyone's minds, as it wasn't usual to see Sergio lose control to the extent of cursing. “What’s up with Sergio being so mad with the president?”

“I have no idea, Isco. He looked so calm and so happy earlier." Dani shrugged, eyes back to the laptop screen. "He was even eager to meet that crazy old man.”

"Which makes me wonder about something that gets me curious. Why does everyone say that the CEO is crazy?" Isco asked. Ever since the gamer has arrived to the RE, the president reputation has never been a good one. Rumors about him spread every time; there wasn't a single employee who liked him, much on the contrary: everyone wanted him out and nobody comprehended his permanence in the CEO position. 

"Well, that's a long story, Isco." Nacho sighed and lowered his voice, so only Isco and Dani heard him. "In a few words, it starts with him firing and admitting people out of no reason and constantly changing the staffs, and continues with him putting the admitted people to work in a field outside of their experience area, making them fail at their work. One doesn't need to be wise to notice that these actions are demonstrations of his incompetence and insanity."

"This thing of changing the staffs has happened with Álvaro, hasn't it?" Isco noted, recalling the booklover's words from when they have first met.

"Yeah, kinda, as well as with some of our friends. Although it was an act of the newspaper' editors-in-chief, the order came from the CEO."

"Moreover, let's not forget that there are rumors spreading that the publishing house is facing a shortfall, mostly because of his bad management...And that this is the reason for the most recent resignations," Dani added. "Jesé tells me that in the newspaper, people are already losing hopes of an improvement."

"Hm, I understand it now, but do these rumors have a fundament? I mean, our magazine might be at risk too?"

"Rumors are rumors, there's a bit of truth and lots of exaggeration, but still, we never know when it comes to him.”

The malagueño opened his mouth to speak, but a grump voice interrupted the conversation, coming from a young man who approached the group. “Hey, you three. Stop chattering and do some work, too!”

“Chill, Casemiro, we are returning to work.” Nacho assured, patting on Isco’s and Dani’s shoulders, and the three men returned to their site management duty.

Checking the hour on his phone, Isco sighed briefly. Only fifteen minutes remaining until their shift was over and it was time for break. Then, he had a conference to attend, as well as a covering for the site. A perfect day to keep his mind occupied. 

* * *

Álvaro scratched his head while standing in front of the work location, astonished expression on his face when he recognized the building as the technology and game fair's exposition center.

Recalling Gigi's words, the reporter was not supposed to be working, but the lack of available reporters for the next few days, as they were busy with their own projects, led to the editor to call him. The subject for the said covering was the e-sports competitions that were taking place in a game and technology fair. It would be just a brief article about the development of game competitions over the past years and the growing e-sport modality. When Álvaro heard about it, he didn't hesitate to accept the job; the only thing he had to do was to contact Evra, one of the newspaper's photographers, and set a place and a time to meet inside the fair. Several hours later, he was exactly where he intended to be the day before, when he promised to spend some time with Isco.

There were crowds of visitors gathered everywhere, making it difficult for him to enter the giant building. It was in slow step walking that he made his way through the place, till he spotted an electronic panel that helps with locating the stalls and events. Navigating through the exposition center map, he looked up the e-sports arena, where he and Evra set to meet in the afternoon. Before he found the arena, though, he identified the RE stall icon, situated only a few meters away from his covering location. He gripped the hold on his bag’s straps and walked into the arena's direction with a big smile on his face.

During the percurse around the venue, however, there were events that went beyond mere game competitions and were too attractive for him not to stop by. Video arcade games whose rough graphics and monophonic sound were unmistakable, gave him nostalgic feelings. A few crowds queued in front of stalls that sold retro goods, and seeing those objects brought him back to his childhood. At that time, he thought of Isco. Would the gamer be interested in those old stuffs or is he someone who just looks ahead? He wondered, while sneaking around the stalls, unaware that he spent more time than predicted, as he planned on dropping by the RE stall to greet his friends.

It was just after checking the time that he rushed to keep up with his plans and greet the people from RE. When he arrived, the stall was quite calm compared to the other ones, but the visitors gathered more to get their prizes. He looked around the place, but there was no signal of Isco, just Dani and Nacho chatted with a few other people he didn't know.

After those people left the corner, Álvaro approached the two men, but not without pulling a prank, something they used to do to each other at school. Stupid childish things brought back by the nostalgie from minutes ago. Tip-toe walking to their direction so he they wouldn't notice his presence, he surprised the two men from behind, wrapping his arms around their shoulders.

"So! How is work going?!"

The two men jumped up, wide eyes open, first staring at each other, then, to the Italy newspaper reporter. 

"Álvarito. What are you doing here?" Dani asked with a hand over his chest. "Haven't you said you had work today?"

"I have. I'm here for work. I have a covering for that e-sports thing."

"Hm, that's an interesting twist." Nacho smiled, before furrowing his brows. "Are you okay with returning to work though?"

"Don't worry about my condition, I have fully rested during these days. Nothing better than doing something related to work."

"I know, but still..."

"I've learned the lesson, Nacho. I'm not gonna overdo myself; besides, my boss told me that it's just this one work and that I have the rest of the days free."

"Well, hopefully, you will enjoy these remaining days of vacation." Dani patted on Álvaro's shoulders.

Álvaro nodded and glanced briefly through the stall. "Where is Isco, by the way?"

"Isco. He was here just a few minutes ago, but since it's break time, he might be somewhere around, probably in some stall or in one of the arena games."

"Oh, thanks for telling, I have to go now. See you tomorrow!" Álvaro waved at them and saw their approving smiles when they waved back. Maybe, if luck were on his side, he and Isco would bump into each other and spend some time together.

* * *

Queues, queues everywhere. Fucking queues, Isco cursed silently. Was there any place where he could simply buy something right away without having to wait so long? He didn't have much time to spend, as there was a conference to attend. He tapped his feet vigorously while standing on the line of people, constantly checking the hour on the phone, when he felt a hand over his shoulder.

"Isco?" A masculine voice called him.

The game magazine reporter turned to look at the man and smiled. "Juanmi. It has been so long!" He said, giving him a hug.

"Yeah, bro! You haven't contacted me yesterday, I have waited the whole day."

"Sorry, I have been busy with work," he felt bad for lying, but if they had contacted each other, Juanmi would probably have dragged him to a club, and Isco hasn't been in the mood to go clubbing. "Even today, I'm working for the magazine. I just had time for break now, but I still have a conference to cover in 30 minutes."

"Hey, I almost forgot that you are a reporter now." Juanmi glanced through the piece of plastic that rested on Isco's shirt and smiled. "I see you're using the expositor badge."

"Yeah, it's a different experience, huh, but still fascinating," Isco replied with a glam in his eyes. That was true, he has fallen in love with journalism more than he ever imagined when he chose it.

"Never thought of being a professional gamer again? Or changing areas?"

"I used to think back when I joined uni, but now...No way. I have discovered myself at journalism; moreover, it's not like I'm far from the game world. After all, I work for a technology magazine and write about games."

"I envy you, man, because computer science is none of what I expected," the fellow malagueño commented, and Isco raised an eyebrow to the bitter tone in his voice.

"You don't like your work?"

"I dunno. Perhaps, I had another image from what reality was. It is interesting, but maybe it's not what I want as a career."

"That's sad. Is there something you would like to do as a career?"

"Sincerely, I don't see myself doing anything, hahaha. But let's move to another subject. How is your life in Madrid?"

"So far, it has been good. What about yours in Málaga?"

Isco and Juanmi kept chatting during the waiting time in the queue, with Juanmi wrapping his arms around him as they joked about random things. Isco hasn't seen that someone has waved at his direction, nor that this someone stood for a few minutes, watching the whole scene before turning away. 

* * *

Álvaro walked to e-sports arena with a different approach from the moment he entered the exposition center: shoulders shrunk, he looked at everywhere, but couldn't focus on anything. Suddenly, everything has become boring and pointless. Has Isco ignored him just now? Was he upset with their talk from the day before? Perhaps, the game magazine reporter has moved on from him after he showed insecurity towards "the special one" thing. Walking aimlessly, he eventually arrived at the scheduled place, where Evra stood with his equipment.

"Ciao, Morata. You are late!"

"Ciao, Evra. Sorry, I got a bit lost here. Let's do the covering?"

"Sure." The photographer assented, checking his camera. "By the way, the guys from J Editorial invited us to go with them to a bar after we all finish this work."

"I'm in." That was the best thing to do at that moment: hang out with other people and not overthink about Isco and that other dude, who, in Álvaro's opinion, talked too close and too intimately with him. 

* * *

James spent the whole day absent-minded. He has met Toni several times during the day, but they haven’t exchanged a single word. At lunch with the boys from the newspaper, for the first time in a while, they gathered on the same space without bickering, but they discreetly avoided being close, sitting one opposite sides. During the meeting for the trip, they sat between Luka, the Croatian being in the awkward position of being the intermediate person to talk with both. It was only by the end of the work that Toni has sent him a message, inviting to a talk somewhere outside. 

Now, they sat at a bar table in an isolated corner. Not a random bar, but the same usual bar they used to visit with their friends and coincidently the one where he has met the crystal-blue-eyed man. Luckily for them, the place was quite calm at that hour, with a few customers here and there, and the only loud sound that played was the music on the background, some corny pop-song with an addicting beat, whose name James couldn't exactly recall. 

“We have been avoiding each other the whole day,” James started the conversation, eyes focused on the glass of beer he held between his hands.

The German sighed and bowed down as the other man stated the observation. “I’m sorry for yesterday, for kissing you all of a sudden before leaving your apartment. I avoided you the whole day because I was afraid of your reaction.”

“It was a bit rude, yes, but I didn’t hate it.” The Colombian narrowed his eyes, startled at his own words. It was just the first glass of beer, but the alcohol effect was already acting on him. “I also avoided you because I’m quite confused about my feelings.”

Taking a deep breath and reaching out his arms, Toni placed his hands on the co-worker's. “You said you had some questions to ask me. I’m all ears for you now and I hope to clear out whatever is confusing you.”

Eyes squinted at the other man after the hand touching, James looked away, chewing on his lips. There were several things bothering him, but the biggest one was the two-timing. 

“Toni, you loved Thomas. Please, don't deny, you no longer have to lie." James stared at Toni and interpreted the lack of reaction from the German as a confirmation. "Why did you let everything happen the way it did, then? I mean, why did you do the two-timing if you loved him?”

Taken aback by the statement and subsequent question, the German sighed and took a sip of his beer. “Yes, I loved him, but not in the way I presumed. We had a stable life in Munich and I was sure that he was the right person for me, even when we were already apart there.” He paused and gazed at James. “That was, until we have met and I experienced a different love from the one I nurtured for him, you know?"

"Yeah, right. The "love" you felt for me was mere attraction."

"N-no! Much on the opposite. The more we got involved, the more I was sure that I loved Thomas as a friend, and you," Toni expressed, his voice slight choked. "I loved you as a lover. No, more than that, as a longtime love partner."

Listening to the other man's words in silence, James wished he didn't say it. The other man's emotional tone, his gaze, awoke the emotions he has surpressed behind the cool exterior. Looking away, he just nodded to let the conversation go on. 

"Now, answering to your questions," Toni continued, clearing his throat. "I have no explanation, nothing to say in my defense. I have let everything happen the way it did because I'm a freaking coward, a dumbass."

“Good to hear you admit that you’re an idiot,” James darted to him, but contrary to the disdain implied on his line, his eyes expressed compassion.

“Yeah, a stupid dude is what I am. I don't know how did I let the things reach the stage they had. For starters, I should have ended the engagement before I moved to Madrid, but I was so afraid of leaving my comfort zone, my 'perfect life'.”

“Don’t blame yourself too much, Toni. You knew him for almost a lifetime.”

“How did you know about this? Since I have never talked much about him with you.”

“Thomas said it himself that day he came to my house,” James commented. “I didn’t want to believe at first, but I understand the situation better now. It must have been confusing for you all this time.”

“My confusion is nothing close to the pain I brought to you.” Toni squeezed James’ hands tight. “I’m sorry for treating you so bad, not only during that week, but since from the beginning.”

James wanted to say that it’s okay, that he has forgiven him, that everything would be alright; however, the hurt was still there, in his chest. It wouldn’t be easy to heal it.

“The pain of betrayal is not something that heals fast, and you know very well what it means.”

“I know, but still...” Toni moved to a seat closer to James, coming to his side. Eyes locked on the Colombian’s, he placed a hand on his cheek, caressing it lightly, and James closed his eyes to feel the other man's soft brush, something that always soothed him. Opening his eyes slowly, he met Toni's; his dark chestnut ones contrasting with the other man's undescribable blue eyes, which acquired a darker color at that moment. James could, again, read through their gaze, the same mix of hurt and affection as the day before, but at the same time, there was a new glam of hope. 

When the German leaned closer, he didn't drift away; instead, all the muscles in his body relaxed, and a shy smile formed around his lips when the co-worker cupped his face with his hands, head tilted so they could meet their lips together a few seconds later. It wasn't supposed to be like that. They were just going to talk, but whenever they get too close, it's like nothing has ever changed between them. They just forget about their issues and lose themselves in each other's arms, one of the reasons why James has avoided Toni during the past months.

Even if his rational side told him a thousand reasons on why it was wrong to still love the one who broke his heart, he no longer listened to the chattering mind. Giving up on resisting, he let himself 'feel' with all his heart; therefore, instead of pulling away from the lock, he parted his lips slightly, so he could welcome Toni's mouth on his. Everything happened slowly, as they were both hesitant to get things further, the tongues clashing deepening the kiss naturally, as well as the hands hovering each other's back, arising the flame that only Toni could awake in him. Caressing his nape, James let out a small moan; gosh, how he missed Toni. How he missed "them".

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...” he apologized, his lips still close to James' after they broke the kiss to grasp for air.

“Shhh.” The Colombian placed his finger on Toni's lips, before gripping his arms around the other man's neck again and leaning closer, so they would resume kissing.

In that moment, however, a group of men joined the bar, loud chattering breaking the quietness of the almost empty bar and competing with the music that played on the background. The group unintentionally broke the two reporters' moment, as the men chose a table a few meters away from them. The noise from the conversation got loud enough for the two reporters identify a mix of Italian and Spanish. They so tried focusing on their intimate moment, but from that time on, the arrival of more customers and the loud environment prevented them from getting back to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Kudos and comments are always welcome! 
> 
> -I still don't know when I'll update the next chapter (sorry, life has been a turmoil lately). If you have any question, feel free to comment. I'm always around Tumblr too, so you can message me anytime at http://sensiblekitty.tumblr.com (don't mind the mess that is my blog tho hahahaha) :)


	16. Suppositions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Álvaro bumps into Toni and James at the bar. When he joins his group of co-workers from the Italian newspaper, Fernando and James exchange glances from afar. In the last part of the chapter, Sergio and Iker reunite.

After finishing the covering, Álvaro and Evra headed to the hotel, in front of which the other co-workers of J Editorial gathered to go to the bar. It has been a long day at work for them. Maybe not much for Álvaro, but the young man wasn't in the mood to spend time at home, alone with his thoughts, either.  The image of Isco and that other man chatting so cheerfully, as if they were longtime acquaintances, still troubled the reporter. That man could be someone from the game area, probably a good friend whom he hasn’t seen for a while. The way Isco talked with him, however, completely relaxed, uninhibited, different from how he speaks with him, could mean something else. Would he be an ex-boyfriend of his?

The ruminative thoughts regarding the scene went on in his mind all the way to the bar. He just came back to his surroundings when Evra, Claudio and Fernando discussed something about the place being a good one. Fact is that, that bar was an old acquaintaince of him, as he has been there several times when he used to work at RE, but he just nodded to them, pretending to pay attention while his mind returned to being busy with the gamer's companion identity speculation.

When the group entered the bar, he just followed them mindlessly. Not paying attention to where he walked, it wasn't surprising that he would bump into whatever was on his way. Noticing that he was behind from the group, he accelerated his steps, clueless to the "wet floor" board that sat nearby. It was just a matter of seconds for him to slip and lose balance and bump into an empty chair of a table occupied by two men.

"Ewww, I'm sorry," Álvaro immediately took the bag that fell from his back onto the table and looked down, face reddening with shame for the scene he has just starred. He glanced briefly through the table and breathed relieved that there were just two empty glasses turned, meaning that the objects were intact. He nodded at the couple and and placed his bag over his shoulders, turning to leave when one of the men called him.

"Hey, you were at the restaurant the other day. Dani's and Jesé's friend, right?"

Raising an eyebrow, Álvaro turned back. The man who just asked the question stood up and faced him with a smile, and his features looked strangely familiar.

"Yes, I think we have met at the restaurant, but I can't remember your name. You are...?"

"James. I work at Real Diario, at the news section," the man reached out. 

"Oh, I remember you now. I'm Álvaro, by the way." The booklover smiled, as the the two men shook hands.

"I know." James' lips turned into a wide smile.

"You know?" Álvaro turned his head to a side and narrowed his eyes. "Then, you have a good memory."

"Not really. I know about your name because my friend spoke about you the other day."

"Which friend?" The other man who occupied the table asked in a raised tone. Álvaro recognized him as the blonde man who argued with James that day.

"Isco," James' smile brightened, before his lips turned into a pout, and the man stared jugdingly at his companion. "you just don't know anything about your friends, right, Toni?"

"I just...Haven't been updated with the latest news." A slight pink blush formed around Toni's cheeks. "Anyway, I'm Toni and I was also at the restaurant that day." The blonde man greeted, standing up and shaking Álvaro's hands.

"I think I remember you too. It's nice to meet you guys again," Álvaro grinned and bowed his head down. "And again sorry for ruining your moment."

"Nah, it's okay, Álvaro." James waved and grinned at his companion. "We were just chatting, right, Toni?"

"Yeah, just a talk between friends," Toni released a laugh, and Álvaro noticed that there was something else going on between the two men that they were trying to cover.

“Well, I won’t take any more minutes of you. My group is waiting there. See you guys!” He waved and left.

The two men waved back and realized that Álvaro’s group of friends was the same one who chatted loudly in a mix of languages. James’ calm countenance, however, converted into a frown when his eyes darted to one of the members from the group, whom spoke smilingly with the other men. The same guy he has met twice, whose identity remained unknown to him. The crystal-blue eyed man with an aversion to serious relationship-or so, he supposed him to be the same person. Their eyes eventually met when the man looked at Álvaro’s direction. The shock displayed on the other man’s face was visible from his seat, but he broke the glance a few seconds later, shaking his head vigorously and turning back. He looked down and at Toni, who stared at him with a puzzled look. 

“What’s up, James?”

“N-nothing. Can we go home now?”

With a suspicious look, he glanced over the table where Álvaro stayed with the loud men and realized that the man still looked at their table occasionally. He sighed and nodded. As Toni insisted on paying for the bills, James waited for him outside of the bar, and the Colombian took a mental note to thank him later, for he could avoid the "acquainted stranger". Why do their paths keep crossing? He asked himself. Maybe it was some prank pulled from the Universe, a test of some sort.

When the German appeared from the door, the Colombian's lips formed a smile and both men walked in silence, only broken a few minutes later, when Toni opened his mouth to speak.

“Do you happen to know that guy?” He darted the question that James wanted to avoid answering, mostly because the Colombian knew it wouldn't be easy to explain to his former boyfriend. 

"Which guy?" The Colombian inquired, praying that Toni didn't notice his intention of feigning ignorance.

"That dude that was in the other table, with Álvaro and that group of noisy guys."

Eyes narrowed, the co-worker shook his head. “No! I don’t even know his name. Why are you asking me this?”

"I saw you two looking at each other in a way that two strangers don't do so."

As expected, Toni knew him too well for him to hide it. Taking a deep breath, he chewed on his lips. “I don't know him, but we have already met twice. We just happened to meet in that bar once and…” James stopped his track and looked at Toni, brows furrowing in a frown. “Why do you care though? It’s not like we are dating or something like that, huh.”

“Because...the way you exchanged glances bothered me."

Surprise. Since yesterday, James has noted a change in Toni's behavior. Besides opening up about his past relationship, the fellow reporter just now expressed his feelings openly. Before, the German would just frown for days without talking to him, and James wouldn't know about what bothered the other man until he eventually admitted, after successive inquiries coming from the Colombian.

"Hey, you are jealous." An amused smile formed around James lips.

The German crossed his arms around his chest and looked down, a grumble coming out from his mouth. "Yes, I'm jealous. I'm fucking jealous because you didn't take your eyes off that dude."

"You shouldn't care though, should you? Since you dumped on me without giving any satisfaction," the Colombian said, resuming his track in hasten steps and leaving the other man behind.

"I'm the most stupid being for having fooled you. I have apologized countless times already, but it'll never be enough, will it?" The co-worker walked after him.

"There are certain things that can't be fixed."

Afterwards, they have finished their track in silence. Arriving at their apartment block, the former love partners stood in front of their respective apartments, one avoiding the other, but at the same, none wanting to leave without exchanging words.

"What about our moment from before? You can't say that it was nothing, James."

It really meant something, he wanted to say, but it wasn't easy to say. There was a bittersweet feeling that lingered through that kiss. At the same time that flame raised up, the fear of betrayal panged over his body. "You said it right, Toni. It was a 'moment' we shared, but who would assure that it will last, that we could ever work out again as a couple?"

The German leaned closer, squeezing the neighbor's shoulder. "We could try it out."

"It is easy to say at first, but look back at our relationship. Think from my perspective." James gazed at him. "No, better saying, think about you and Thomas. Do you think you can trust him after all he did?"

"These situations are completely different. There is no way we can compare them."

"Just put the differences aside and think about betrayal."

Taking a deep breath, Toni bowed his head down and shook it. "I don't think I can trust him again."

"See? That's how I feel about you. I'm sorry, but I can't do it, at least not now."

"I understand and I appreciate your honesty. Perhaps, we will never be back to "us" from before, right?" The German wondered, the hurt in his eyes aching the other man's heart. The Colombian wanted to wrap his arms around him and whisper in his ears that everything would be fine, that their moment at the bar proved their love was as alive as before, that nothing would set them apart, but reality was a heartbreaker and reminded him they were no longer the same.

"I'm sorry, Toni."

The German neighbor nodded in silence and opened the door to his apartment, but didn't part before asking, "Are you going to the fair tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'm going, but I haven't decided on the time yet. I'll tell Luka later and schedule the time for us to meet there. If you are also going and would like to come with us..."

"I would love to, if you don't mind. As friends, of course." Toni gave a small smile before frowning and looking down. 

"I don't mind at all," James replied in a faint voice. It was obvious that he minded, but he wouldn't confess his feelings. It would be hard to be "just friends" with him from here on, but he wasn't ready to resume their relationship. They weren't ready.  

"See you, James."

"See you, Toni." The Colombian watched the neighbor close the door, thankful that he didn't hear his sobs, nor witnessed the tears that fell from his eyes.

* * *

At the bar table, Fernando watched when Álvaro came to their side after spending a few minutes chatting with the two men from the other table. What surprised him, though, was that one of the guys turned out to be the man who helped him the other day. More than that, looking from afar, he eventually recalled their acquaintances. Their first meeting happened on the day of his cousin's wedding. He remembered being drowned by the relatives' questions regarding his love life and giving an excuse to leave the party, heading to the nearest bar around. He presumed to be the only lonely man that night, but later on, a man sat a few seats away from him with a overwhelmed expression and defensive behavior, but after the misuderstandings of the first impression have faded out between shots of strong alcoholic drinks, they talked about heartbreaks and types of men.

_"Any men but blonde with blue eyes, please." The man mumbled, his voice already affected by the effect of the alcohol._

_"What about dark-brown haired men with blue eyes?" Fernando asked with a wink._

_"Like you?" He asked with a smirk._

_"Could be...After all, I'm quite attractive."_

_"Haha, yeah, you're quite handsome, but if you are trying to make me one of your one-night stands, give up. I'm not into the mood for this."_

_"Well, I'm just trying to enlighten your mood."_

_"It's very nice of you, but I'm fine by myself." He said, resting his head between his arms._

Afterwards, Fernando recalled that they have agreed that it was too much of a drink and left the bar shortly after. Waiting for the bar outside, they behaved like foolish drunk guys in the street,even sharing a kiss. Not a big deal, just a peck on the lips, only to part ways without getting any personal data from each other. Even though they shared a brief moment together, that man left him a remarkable impression. His experience has reminded of his own, with his ex-boyfriend Javi; therefore, once in a while he wondered about the sad stranger. Little could he imagine that they would meet again these days and still not know anything about each other. He glanced over the other table and saw the man leaving with the other guy.

"Hey, Fer, are you listening?" Álvaro interrupted Fernando's thoughts, dragging him back to the conversation the madrileño started.

"I'm listening to you now."

"I was ranting about how Isco ignored me while talking all relaxed with that guy."

"Well, he might have not seen you." Fernando shrugged. "After all, the exposition center was surely crowded." 

"I waved like a fool to his direction, but he was too busy with that guy. Is it something to do with a friend? I mean, the exposition center wasn't that crowded for him not to see me."

"Sorry to interrupt you, Álvi, but I saw you talking with those two men who have just left that table. Do you happen to know them?"

Álvaro's eyes constricted at the co-worker's question. "I don't really know them. We have met that day, in the restaurant; they work for the Real Diario. That's all."

"You haven't talked about them."

"I have mentioned them briefly. Uhh, they are the arguing couple..."

"Oh, I see. What is the name of the guy with dark chestnut hair?"

"James," Álvaro replied, raising an eyebrow. "May I know what your interest in knowing about them is though?"

"It is a long story, but in a few words...I have met this James guy twice in Madrid, without knowing anything about him."

"Please, tell me more."

Fernando told a short version of the first meeting at the bar and the second one, at the street, confessing that in the two times they have met, they didn't share any information.

"How do you know it is him though? It could be any random guy with a similar feature."

"No, I'm sure it is him. We have met in this same bar months ago. I just associated the two things today after seeing from afar. Moreover, he looked at me with the same shock as I did."

"I could get his contact with my friends," Álvaro suggested, opening the contact list on his phone. 

"What for? For me to tell him that I'm the dude whom keeps meeting him in random places in Madrid? He would most likely call the police and tell them I'm a creepy."

"Yeah, it could happen, but you are not at fault if you guys happen to be on the same place at the same time, huh."

"Well, forget about it. At least I know his name now."

"I have a feeling he is curious about you though."

"Too bad I'm going back to Turin on Sunday, so we won't meet again."

"I could arrange it with a simple call."

"Don't, Álvaro."

"Why not? Aren't you the one who always gives me advice to make initiatives?"

"It's different on my case." Fernando shook his head. "Let's move back to your topic. You were talking about Isco, weren't you? That he ignored you..."

Álvaro let out a long sigh. "Yeah, after I waved like a stupid for him to notice me."

"Maybe it's just a misunderstanding, since you haven't told him that you would show up in the fair today."

"I wanted to surprise him, but it turned out worse."

"Just message him to say that you were there. I'm sure he will have an explanation."

"Yeah, I'll do it," Álvaro said, checking the inbox on his phone. In a whisper, he murmured to himself, "If you applied your advice to your life, Fer, you would be happier."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." Álvaro smiled. "I'm just thinking aloud about what to write to Isco."

* * *

Sergio stood at the front side of the airport arrival. He headed straight from the fair to the airport to wait for Iker, so he would meet him on time. Tapping his feet fastly, he chewed on his lips. The thing he wanted to avoid the most these days was bound to happen: his boyfriend meeting the CEO again. He already hated himself for not being able to avoid his dismissal, mostly because Iker himself hasn't allowed him to go against their boss and put his job at risk.

If his job weren't at stake, he wouldn't have hesitated on saying some honest words to the man who was in the command of the RE. For instance, he would have told him that his management was ruining the publishing house, that he was the one not suited for the position not the employees he leads to dismissal. Nevertheless, he couldn't say those words; he is just a mere editor that has to consent with the company's decisions. In other words, he is just a mere puppy with tied hands being controlled by the big bosses. Sighing hard, his expression just smoothed when he spotted his boyfriend appearing from the airport arrival door, turning his lips on a smile.

"I'm back home." Iker smiled, the bag he brought over his shoulders indicating he has come right from work. 

"Welcome back home, _cariño,_ " Sergio greeted, wrapping his arms around the other man and placing a kiss on his neck. "Just this bag will do?"

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna spend weeks here," Iker said, shrinking his shoulders.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding that we just have a few days together."

Still with a smile, the former Real Diario editor caressed Sergio's upper back. "We will have a wonderful weekend ahead. Let's get the best out of these days we have together." 

The 'R-Up' editor-in-chief looked at him with affectionate eyes and nodded. "When did you learn to be this optimistic? You have always been the grumpiest and the most pessimistic out of us two."

"I'm not an optimistic guy and I'm still the same grumpiest man you ever know, but...I'm beginning to see the good in the little things. This moment we have for us, for instance, is one of them."

"Aww, Ikeeerrr, you are so cute." Sergio wrapped his arm around him in a tight hug. "I missed you so much."

Iker tried to hug him back, but the grip was too tight that he could take his arms off the embrace. "O-okay, Sese. Can you let go, now? Otherwise, you'll suffocate me."

"Sorry, love." Sergio pulled away from the embrace with a wide grin. "Let's go home, now?"

"That's what I want the most."

They made the route to their apartment in Sergio's car, while they chatted about their work routines. On a side, Iker complained about the pile of works to check, but at the same time, he admitted to be happy. On another side, Sergio confessed that he envied him, telling that he has to put up a devil face in front of the technology magazine staff.

"You tell me this every time, but I can't depict you like that."

"I never smile in front of my staff and everyone hates me."

"I don't think they hate you. Maybe they just fear you."

"Yeah, they never dare to make eye contact with me and barely raise their voice to speak with me," Sergio snorted, recalling the way the reporters behave when he is around.

"Little do they know that you are the complete opposite from what you show."

"I know, but I have to put up that front."

"You don't have to. I agree that you have rules to follow, but you can create a good work environment and still be yourself."

"But if the boss finds out..."

Iker shook his head, frowning at Sergio's words. "If you are doing a good work, he won't be able to say anything against you."

"You were doing your duty as an editor perfectly, yet you have been fired."

"Not really perfectly. I went against the norms and paid the price, but you are still there and can make a change without confronting them directly."

Losing the job was the price for doing the right thing, for disagreeing with the management as well as its conduct norms and starting a movement against them. It was unfair indeed that things happened that way and the situation hasn't gotten any better. Even though more co-workers voiced displeasure with the situation, including Sergio himself, Iker took all the responsibility alone and "paid" the price. Some people still say that he was stupid in doing so, but to Sergio, it was an act of bravery and selflessness. He admired even more the partner and wondered if someday he could ever have that sense of leadership.

"Then, dear, you have to teach me how to do it. I mean, to be my usual idiot self with my staff and at the same time a leader, and not to follow strictly those stupid norms." Sergio laughed. "I believe it's possible to anyone, but me."

They stopped talking as they have arrived at their apartment building, resuming their conversation after entering the garage and parking the car.

"Let's talk about it, then. I do believe you can do it." Iker said, when the two entered the elevator.

"Let's make a bet?"

"No, I didn't mean..."

"Hah, you're afraid of losing!"

"Damn, I'm not. I just think that it's silly." Iker retorted, when the elevator stopped in their apartment's floor and they walked to the apartment.

"We'll talk about it later." Opening the door to the apartment, Sergio's eyes brightened as he gazed at his boyfriend. "Now, I have a surprised to you," he said, pushing the door and holding his hands, guiding him inside the place. 

As they entered their home, the former RE editor stared open-mouth at the living room, unusually clean. "Am I at the right place?"

"Yes, of course." Sergio grinned. "It is the apartment 151 after all. I just made a miracle here these days."

Iker snorted and mirrored the other man's grin. "It's amazing. You are amazing, Sese."

"The things we don't do for love." Sergio leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Iker's waist.

"You shall be rewarded for your brave attitude." Iker winked, pulling the other man closer and placing a kiss on Sergio's lips.

"I just want us to have a nice and comfortable moment here."

"We will, here at home, but also at the fair. I can't wait to go with you tomorrow!"

Sergio's smile disappeared, and the man looked away.

"In fact, I don't think it is a good idea we go together in the morning. Perhaps, you should go later."

Iker slanted his head, eyes narrowing at his partner's statement. "Why shouldn't I go with you? Until yesterday, you were all happy and excited about this idea."

Scratching his head, the R-Up! editor-in-chief took a few additional seconds to answer. "Because he didn't come today; instead, he is attending tomorrow."

Iker let out a long sigh at the information. "I have already told you. I'm not afraid of him. If that's the only reason why you don't want me going, forget about it. You won't prevent me from going."

"But he might humiliate you."

"He can't. If he does, it will be bad for him, since I no longer work for the publishing house. I have moved on."

"Iker..."

"Besides, I could expose him if I wanted, but it's not worth my time."

"I won't be able to defend you if he says anything harmful."

"You shouldn't anyway. I would be upset if you got into trouble because of me." Iker shrunk his shoulders, before turning to the other man and caressing his arms. "Don't worry, everything will be alright."

"If you say so, who am I to stop you, right? Since I have no power over you."

"You do have power over me, but for other subjects, which aren't relevant now." Iker's cheeks flustered. "Anyway, I can't wait to see the devil-boss that you claim to impersonate so well."

"I can be a good actor," Sergio said with a smug, back stiffening and head lifting as he spoke.

"Well, we shall see," Iker raised an eyebrow, smiling at the confidence of his boyfriend. Something to look forward to over the weekend.  

* * *

It was 9pm, and Álvaro was already back at home. Laid on his bed, he placed his phone beside him while listening to a random song. He has been procrastinating for hours in getting in touch with Isco. While there was a desire to talk with the other man, there was also insecurity. Hands on the phone, he raised it, skimming through the contact list until he found the malagueño's number. Closing his eyes and holding his breath, he threw the phone aside. Isco didn't care about him. He had other companions, so it was useless to call him. Maybe tomorrow, when he comes to the fair, he will talk with him, but he didn't know anymore. 


End file.
